Fire and Ice
by AmyC103
Summary: Fire and Ice,they are total opposites.She's the Fire, he's the Ice.High school for the both of them,will never be the same. The friction between the two,it's enough to destroy the world. Alcohol and Drug usage!Rated M for a reason! Later, Lemons! GaaSaku
1. Prologue

Fire and Ice

Fire and Ice, they are total opposites. She's the Fire, he's the Ice. High school for the both of them, will never be the same. The friction between the two, it's enough to destroy the world.

Prologue.

Fire and Ice, they were never ment to interact. They were never ment to be near the other. Fire burns everything in sight, while the Ice freezes everything, taking their sole. The girl was the fire, burning her way into the hearts of everyone she meets. She was the prize of her town, the fire that kept them all going. The fire showed in her determination, she never let anything slip past her, never having one homework assignment late. Her smile alone could melt the coldest heart on earth. He was the Ice. Frozen in his shell of hate, never coming out. His glance could freeze any person in their tracks, no matter much fire that person had. They froze for eternity. His words stung like a cold winters breeze, cutting right through you. His heart was frozen. His face frozen in a emotionless mask...

My name is Hanuro Sakura. I was the girl who did everything she was told to do, never talking back or saying no to anything. My life revolved around school, my friends, and my boyfriend, Uchiha Sasuke. I never thought that something like this could ever happen. I still don't know how it did. He was so cold, a frozen block of ice. His piercing eyes cut through me every time our eyes locked. But still, there was something about him, something that drew me to him like a moth to a flame. I will always be putty in his hands...

This is my story. I will tell you if you are willing to listen...


	2. Konoha High

**Ok, guys!! here's my newest story for yahs! I hope you like this one, I think its pretty good. **

**MAKE SURE YOU READ ALL AUTHOR NOTE'S!!! THERE WILL BE DRUG AND ALCOHOL USAGE IN THIS STORY!! IT WILL WARN YOU BEFORE THE CHAPTER SO IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT, DON'T READ IT!!**

Chapter 1, Konoha High.

The store was buzzing with people, everyone was getting ready for the start of a new school year. I was pulling a deep red dress up my slim body, my friend had thrown it at me and shoved me into a changing room. I sighed and tied the red straps behind my neck, pushing my pink hair over my left shoulder. I pulled it down a little, I wasn't used to wearing something this short, but Ino promised my boyfriend would love it. I walked out of the changing room with a weary smile, my cheeks tinged with pink.

"Well?" I said as I lifted my arms and turned in a circle.

"It's so cute on you!" Ino squealed. She ran over to me, her long blond hair out of its usual pony tail. She spun me around to face the mirror, I gasped at the sight.

There was a women staring at me. Her long creamy legs intensified by the deep red color of the dress and high healed shoes. Her pink hair flowed over her shoulder, her deep emerald eyes wide with wonder. A small smile spread on this womens face, I could hardly believe it was me. I stared back, until Ino stepped into my view wearing a sparkly purple dress.

"Ino." I sighed, looking down and slightly shaking my head.

"What?" Her voice held worry. "You don't like it, do you? Maybe I should go get that other one." Shes started walking away. I sighed with a small smile.

"It's sparkly. You know Kiba! He'll get all distracted and stuff!" I giggled and grabbed her, spinning her back towards the mirror. "You look fabulous." I whispered in her ear, still giggling. She smiled.

"I do, don't I?" She said in that mocking voice of hers. "Together, we'll have all the spot lights!" I nodded and we broke out in giggles.

Ino is like my sister. We had a bad past, but it was all much better. We used to fight over a boy, it was stupid really. But, after we stopped fighting over him, and after we were both done following his every move, he started acting weird. When ever I'd say hi to him in class, he'd reply with a small blush, looking away. After a few weeks of this, Ino came up to me, screaming that he wanted to know if I would go out with him. Ino had found a boyfriend this same day as me, Kiba. I always teased her about it, too. Kiba was a dog boy, and I sometimes made fun of him, telling him he had dog breath, that he needs to sit on the floor like a good puppy and some other things. He knew I was always joking, he was never hurt about it. Ino always laughed, telling me it wasn't nice, though she did it too, so she couldn't say much about it.

I was dating the great and wonderful Uchiha Sasuke. The jewel of Konoha. The football quoter back, the boy who got perfect grades, and according to some people, now had the perfect girlfriend. I never got what the fuss was all about, there were many at my school who were prettier then I am. Ino, for one, my other friend Hinata, and and even TenTen was good looking! Hinata was a shy girl, but many went after her. Guys who liked having their balls attached never tried grabbing TenTen's butt. She was a tomboy, but she's the best. They were all my close friends. I loved them all with my whole heart. But, I feel like I have more guy friends then I do girls. Sasuke often commented on it, saying how he didn't like it, even though most of the guys are his friends, too.

There was Kiba, Lee, Naruto, Shino, Choji, Shikamaru, Neji, and Sai. Wow, now that I've thought about it, I do have a lot of guy friends. And then there's Sasuke, of course. I hung out with Naruto a lot, and Ino and Kiba. Lee had some weird crush on me or something, Shikamaru was to lazy to ever do anything, Choji ate all of the time, while Neji and Shino were cold hearted bums who were to "good" to go to the movies, or hang out at a party. Hinata and Neji were nothing alike to be cousins. Hinata was shy and stuttered when ever she was put on the spot, she was kind hearted and sweet. Neji was cold and hard. He was mean and bitter. The teachers never asked him to read his essay to the class, he'd never open his eyes to glance at the teacher, let alone stand up when he didn't have to.

I changed back into my blue jeans and grey tank top. Ino was already waiting for me at the register. I quickly pain for my dress and we walked off towards the food court to meet Sasuke and Kiba for lunch. They were already waiting when we got there, Neji and Hinata was sitting with them. I smiled and waved to my shy friend and took my seat by Sasuke, giving him a quick kiss. He never broke his conversation with Kiba as he put his arm around my shoulders. Ino sat down across from me, next to Kiba.

"I can't wait for the first dance of the year! We'll kill in those dresses!" She squealed. I nodded and laughed with her.

"Hinata, have you picked out a dress yet?" I turned to my shy friend who was sitting between me and Ino. She nodded shyly and held up a bag.

"Neji came with me to pick it up. I found it a few days ago." She pulled the zipper down on the white bag. My mouth fell open.

I was a dark midnight blue, and was sparkly like Ino's. From the look of it, it was very low cut, but it would go down past her ankles. My eyes moved along the thin fabric, there was a slit that traveled from the foot all the way to just below her hip, if the wind blew right, a whole lot of Hinata would be open for the public. I glanced at Ino, her mouth was farther down them mine. I smirked and recomposed myself, Ino was usually the one who wore all of the slutty things. Hinata was the one who kept everything covered, to shy to show any skin.

"Wow! Naruto will just _love_ that dress!" I smirked when Neji's head snapped to stare at us, his cool mask was broken when he saw the dress.

"Hinata... you are _not_ wearing that _anywhere_." He hissed, standing to take the dress from her."I can't believe that you bought that." He reached for the dress, but I stood up and got between him and the dress.

"Nu-uh. She can wear what she wants, Neji. Let the girl have some fun!" Ino was standing next to me now.

"Sakura's right, you're always telling her what she can and can't wear. She's a girl for goodness sake! She needs to wear this!" Ino motioned to the dress. "She will look fantastic!"

"Not around Naruto." Neji hissed, trying to push past us. He grabbed my arm and pulled me away, he was suddenly tossed a few feet back.

"Don't touch her again." Sasuke hissed, one arm around me, the other pulling back as if he had just hit someone. Neji had jumped out of the way just in time to miss a punch that would have hurt. "We're leaving." Sasuke started pulling me away, this was nothing new.

"Bye!" I waved over my shoulder and followed him out of the mall, my bag hung over his shoulder.

So, school started with nothing new. A few new people, not anything to big. Sasuke was as protective of me as ever, again nothing new. I was used to being around him when at school like this. The only time I wasn't by his side was when we were in different classes. During lunch I was always by him, with his arm over my shoulder.

The first few months just blew by, and it was a few days before Christmas vacation started. Everyone was getting excited. Ino me and Hinata all wore little santa outfits to school one day, many guys got mysterious nose bleeds. It was a few days before vacation started, I was walking out of my house to Sasuke's car, he was waiting by the road for me. It was almost time for school. I climbed in and gave him a peck on the lips, he was off. I laughed and he turned up the music, a small smile playing on his lips. I loved it when he drove fast, it was so much fun. I loved the danger. That was as close to danger that I'd ever get.

"Sakura! Sasuke!" Ino waved from our table in the back of the cafeteria. I waved back and wrapped my arm around Sasuke's waist. His arm wound around my shoulders and he kissed my forehead we walked. I sat down next to TenTen and we started talking about what we were doing over vacation. I was leaving early, today was my last day until after New Years. Mom was taking me out of state to go and visit my gram and gramps in New York. I was already packed and literally bouncing up and down at the thought of going to see them. It's been ages.

TenTen was staying in town, just like all of my other friends. Hinata and Neji were throwing a huge party at the Hyguua Estate, I was a little bummed that I couldn't go, but I needed the time away, Sasuke was starting to get on my nerves. Hinata joined in on our conversation, telling me what its going to be like, TenTen had hearts in her eyes when Hinata said they're inviting a band to play, it happens to be TenTen's favorite.

The bell soon rang and everyone started filing out of the cafeteria. Sasuke pulled me tightly against him and gave me a long deep kiss before he went off to his class, and I went to mine.

The day was rather uneventful, I had homework poured down on me, I do it on the plane. Art was my favorite class. I signed up for it every year. I loved to draw, and I thought I wasn't half bad at it. All of my friends said I was the best there was, but they haven't seen my grandmothers drawings. I got that from her. I was bringing my portfolio with me when we went, I wanted to show her how much better I am now. The last time she's seen anything that I've drawn was the last time I saw her, I was seven then, it was nine years ago. My mother was taking me and my elder brother with her, Father was staying home for some "much needed rest" from us. I never have liked my father, he was always so violent towards mother and my brother. I didn't want anything to do with the man, but my brother worshiped him. He didn't see father the way I did, he learned to block out all of the bad in people. It hurt to see my brother acting like nothing was wrong, when deep down, he knew what father was doing to us. To mom, to me. Father didn't believe that women should have any freedom in the world, why mother married him was beyond me. He was like Sasuke...

My pencil snapped as those thoughts ran ramped in my mind. I gasped and looked at my bleeding hand, the pencil stabbed my palm. I cursed under my breath and stood and walked over to the sink, careful not to let the blood fall to the floor.

"Are you ok?" I turned my head slightly to see Hinata grabbing me some paper towels, Sasuke was still in his seat drawing, attempting would be a better word, to draw a tree.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I gave her a small smile and wrapped the paper towels around my hand. "Thanks, Hinata."

She smiled at me and we went back to our seats. I looked down at my drawing, it was dark. Shaded so much that you could barely see the evil pictures in them. I stared at it with big eyes. It was Sasuke, looking in a mirror, but his reflection wasn't his, it was my fathers. I had never drawn anything like this before. And I did it subconsciously. I quickly tucked it away in a folder to ask gram about when I saw her. She had this old saying that she used to tell me about how people draw the truth, I wanted to hear it again, to make sure it wasn't real. I grabbed another blank sheet of paper and started drawing a picture of all of my friends.

I didn't look up when the bell rang, it was the last class of the day and Anko-sensei always let me stay after for a little while, and mom was picking me up, I had a few minutes. Sasuke kissed my head as he left, telling me he'd see me when I got back in the state. Hinata waved and I told her I hope her party goes well, and reminded her to keep Lee away from any alcohol. She giggled and said they weren't aloud to have any, I said Kiba's name and she started running from the room to find her cousin. Kiba was going to be someone they need to babysit. I looked back down at my drawing and finished shading in Hinata's light blush. I smiled and slipped it into my folder.

"Have a good vacation, Sakura." Anko said as I grabbed my bag and started walking from the room.

"You to!" I called over my shoulder with a small wave. I liked Anko-sensei. Everyone thought she was really weird, but I thought she was cool. So what if she was different, there's no crime in that!

I jogged to my locker, the halls were already empty. After I grabbed everything that I would need to do my homework on the plane, I slammed it shut and jogged down to the office, they announced my name over the intercom. I laughed and picked up my pace a little, almost dropping all of my books.

"There you are! I've been waiting for five whole minutes!" My brother walked out of the office with his hands on the top of his head. "Ready?" He took a few of my books and carried them for me.

"Yup!" I skipped down the hall to keep up with his quick pace. I was a whole head shorter then him and more. His legs were a lot longer then mine, making me have to go faster to keep up with his normal pace. A large smile was on my face. It wasn't everyday I got to see him, he was in collage now. I hadn't seen him sense school started, I missed him. Kyoto and I did everything together when we were little. He was the one who taught me how to do things, and who kept me out of trouble with dad. Kyoto received many beatings for me when I was little, yet he still thought of dad as a god. I love my big brother, hes always been my hero.

Kyoto's new mustang was waiting outside of the school, I gasped and looked up at him. He was looking at my from the corner of his eye, holding out the key. My eyes grew bigger, he was letting me drive his car, a mustang, a _brand new_ mustang. My smile grew larger as I took the keys and practically ran to the car. We tossed my books in the back and I got in the front seat. I had just gotten my permet a few weeks ago, I just turned sixteen the other month. I waited for him to get in and buckle his seat belt before I started it, he knew I wasn't that good at driving yet, but he was still letting me drive his new car. The engine purred to life, I smiled even bigger as I put it in gear.

By the time we got home, his eyes were so wide I thought they would pop out of his head, and his fingers were so tight on the seat, I swore I heard a ripping sound when he unclasped them from the leather.

"... Wow." He said, quickly shutting off the engine and taking the keys as he jumped out the door. "Don't expect to be driving with me any time soon!" He said in a shaky voice.

"You're such a wuss!" I sighed and grabbed all of my things from the back seat. "I didn't even hit that car! I missed him by miles!"

"More like centimeters!" Kyoto huffed as he rubbed the left side of his car, checking for the slightest scratch.

"Wimp." I muttered and walked up to the house, he followed after beeping his baby locked. I rolled my eyes and opened the front door. "Mom! We're here!" I called out as I kicked off my shoes.

"You have ten minutes before we leave!" She called from the kitchen. I called back an "ok" and ran up the stairs to my room. I needed to finish packing my school stuff.

My bedroom was my prize, it was the one thing that I loved more then my mom and brother. I spent almost all of my money to make this room how I wanted it. It was my getaway. Somewhere for me to go where no one else could go without my permission. I slid my key card through the slot and it beeped as it unlocked. I smiled and pushed it open. That had costed me a lot to get. The floor of my room was a deep mahogany color wood, my curtains a soft white color, and light enough that a small breeze made it ripple. Behind the curtains was a huge sliding glass door that lead to a balcony, it was currently covered in the soft white snow. My bed was king size, I loved it. It was soft and firm at the same time. The covers was a light green, matching the light green walls. Three big bags were lined up near my door, the bags I was taking with me to New York.

I grabbed another bag from under my bed and set it on my bed. It was a backpack, perfect for carrying my school books on the plane with me. I stuffed everything that I would need in it, along with my art folder and a few extra sharpened pencils. There was a knock and my door and I opened it.

"Where's your bags? Mom wants me to pack the car up." Kyoto entered my room. I pointed to the bags near the door and he took two of them, one in each hand. I grabbed the other and my school stuff. I gave my room one last glance before shutting, and locking, my door. I didn't want daddy in there while I was away. I hate it when people go through my things. I know if even one thing is out of place. It's an annoying trate both me and my brother got from dad.

I pulled my white coat on and slipped my feet into my knee high boots. I grabbed my hat off the hanger and picked my bag back up, going outside. I handed my bag off to Kyoto and pulled my white hat down over my pink hair. Mom came out with her pale pink hair flying in the breeze that just picked up. I was a chibi mother. We looked alike, all but our eyes. I had bright green ones like father, while mother and Kyoto had deep brown ones.

I watched as they both shut the trunk and climbed into the car, with one last glance at the house, I got in the car and shut the door. I was glad, yet sad, to be leaving. I couldn't wait to see grandmother. The thought of being able to see her again brought a smile to my face. I had cried for a day straight when she moved away, this would be the first time I would see her sense then.

The airport was normal. Nothing new there. Kyoto bumped into some blond girl who cursed at him and walked away with her chin in the air. I smiled and teased him saying he had a new girlfriend. That was until I bumped into a brown haired guy that kept winking at me as he helped me up. Kyoto got all "protective brother" and swore at the guy, pushing him away from me. I laughed as I tried to pull him away, saying sorry to the man. While all of this was happening, mother was talking to some man with red-ish brown hair and hazel eyes. The man had many scars on his face alone, and there was someone by his side. Though, I couldn't see the boys face, he looked dangerous. Anger was rolling off the boy, his hood was pulled over his face, only letting me see the tip of his nose and part of his chin. He wore all black, and had a smell on him that I've smelt before. Kyoto smelt it to, he stiffened and glared at the boy until our mother was done talking.

The boy stunk like drugs and beer.

We quickly got onto the plane after that, mom was going to make us miss it. I sat next to the window, with Kyoto next to me, and mom on the end. The plane was big, this was the first time I was ever on a plane. I was amazed at how fast we went, Kyoto laughed at me the whole time.

Grandpa was there to pick us up from the airport, he said that grams was doing some last minute cleaning. That was grams for you. Always putting things until last minute. When we got back to their house, gram hugged us and we talked for a little bit about how our trip was, then she showed us to our rooms. I was sharing moms old room with her, and Kyoto was taking my uncles old room. There was two beds all set up, and a drawing pad on one of the beds by the window. I took that one. Mom left me alone so that I could unpack while she went to help grandpa cook dinner. I sat down on my bed and took out the drawings I made at school.

I don't know how long I stared at the one of Sasuke and my father, but before I knew it, Grandma was taking it from me to get a better look. She stared at it for a few minutes before setting it down and reaching her hand out to me.

"It's time for dinner, sweetheart." I smiled and took her hand.


	3. Meeting

Chapter 2, Meeting.

Dinner was uneventful. Grandfather made noodles with pork, it was really good. He was the best cook ever. He made everything from scratch, he was going to teach me how to cook like him during my stay. After dinner, I went back up to the room and took out a clean white paper and started drawing the night sky. Mom came in within a few hours, telling me she was going to bed, and that I had to if I was going to stay in the room. I took my drawing and left.

I went outside, all bundled up, and sat on the desk with my drawing pad. It was hard to see the sky because of the buildings, so I drew both of them. I don't know how long I stayed outside, but my lips were all blue when I went to the bathroom to brush my hair before bed...

"HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!"

Screams were heard from all over the town, everyone screaming with delight that it was another year, a fresh start, something new and untouched. Streamers fell from the sky's, along with a whole bunch of confetti. Everyone was laughing and cheering, I smiled and hugged my older brother. We were dancing out on the streets, someone had a big stereo going and was playing good songs. I danced with many different boys that I've never met, but Kyoto always pulled me away to dance with him and some girl he just met.

When we got back to the house, it was around three in the morning. The police had shown up to end the party, and to send everyone home. A few people got busted for drinking, I got a very buzzed Kyoto out of there before they saw him. I had a few beers, but not enough to make me to buzzed, just enough to feel it. I had to lead Kyoto to his room, I was so glad that everyone else was sleeping, we would have been done for. Once dropping him off, I went to the room where mom was sleeping, I was asleep before my head hit the pillow...

"SAKURA!!!" I looked up and smiled widely when Ino came running over to me. We hugged and I started telling her everything about my trip. It was January 5th, my first day back from my vacation, as well as others.

We sat down in our usual seats and joined in with Hinata's and TenTen's conversation. They couldn't believe that I was drinking with my brother, he was like mega protective over me, and it was the "first" time that I've ever drank. It wasn't really, they thought it was though, no ones ever seen me drink, no one but Kyoto and his friends. It was rare, but it happened. Arm's wrapped around me and pulled me backwards, I giggled into Sasuke's mouth when he kissed me. I wasn't about to tell anyone that I was dancing with random guys, Sasuke would get ticked and stop talking to me again. He pulled me into his lap and started talking with Kiba and Neji.

The day went by slowly, I was in my third class, History, the one without Sasuke. I was sitting next to Hinata and Shikamaru when _he_ walked into the classroom. He walked past me and sat in the very back row, away from everyone else, I felt a shiver run down my spine as he passed me. My eyes stayed on the red head as he walked, it demanded power. This kid could snap anything with just his eyes. Cold hard jade eyes that were staring into mine.

"Who's he?" I whispered to Hinata. She glanced in the direction I was looking in and gasped.

"That's Sabaku no Gaara." She whispered back. "He started school here the day after you left. He's already sent three people to the nurses office because they tried talking to him. I'd stay away, if I were you. He's nothing but trouble." Through out her explanation, my eyes never moved from the jade ones. Gaara's glare intensified, it felt like ice was poured down my shirt. I quickly turned around and waited for our always late teacher.

Kakashi-sensei was always late, he arrived halfway through the class, the whole while I could feel those jade eyes boring into my back. I talked with Hinata and Shikamaru some, but I mostly doodled on my notebook cover. When Kakashi-sensei finally arrived, he announced that we would be doing projects with someone in the class. He had a hat full of names, and was picking out random ones.

"Ms. Hyguua and Uzumaki. Nara and Suki. Sabaku and Hanuro..." I didn't hear the rest, my heart had stopped.

For the next few weeks, I would have to work with that freak. I felt like I was going to die at any second. Working together ment, spending time with him, talking to him, looking at him, being alone with him to study, talking to him, did I mention I had to spend time with him?! Hinata was giving me a sorry look, I could feel my breathing getting harder. I coughed and blinked. I would have to do this, there was no way in _hell_ I was going to fail this class because of him. We got to pick our own topics, I already had a few in mind, which ment I was going to have to talk to him, and before class ended.

"You are to sit by your partners for the rest of the class. When you know what your topic is, write both of your names on the chalkboard and your topic. Start." With a wave of Kakashi's hand, he pulled out a orange book and started reading.

"Sakura," I looked up into the concerned eyes of Naruto. "don't piss Gaara off. If he doesn't like something, change the subject. He punches hard." Naruto rubbed his jaw where the redhead punched him a few days ago, he was all black and blue there. I gaped at him. Hinata never told me it was _Naruto_ he sent to the nurses office!

"O-Okay." I mumbled and picked up my things.

I stood up and took a deep breath, turning around and walking up to the empty desk next to the glaring redhead. He was glaring at Kakashi-sensei from the way it looked, his eyes were going over my shoulder as I walked. I carefully set my books down and pulled out the chair. He didn't say anything, just closed his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. I took this time to give him a once over.

He was a redhead, duh, and had a tattoo on his forehead, or maybe it was a scar, I didn't take to much time looking at it. He looked strong, his muscules obvious under his tight black t-shirt. He had a strong looking neck, and big arms. Arms that were sure going to power a punch. He wore baggy army green pants and combat boots over his feet. He was definitely the "bad-boy" type. He looked to be about Kyoto's hight, if not a little short, which would mean he could tower over me. His hands were clenched into fists, and when I looked back up, his eyes were glaring at me. With a small gasp, I quickly turned to my open notebook. The first page was off random flowers that I drew during math, I already knew everything that Genma-sensei was teaching us, so I had time to be bored out of my mind. The second page was blank, I quickly started writing down things that we could do our project on.

When I was done writing down my ideas, we had five minutes left of class, Gaara hadn't moved a muscule. I was glaring at the paper for a few seconds, it looked like I would have to do this whole thing by myself. With a small sigh, I ripped out the paper and passed it over to Gaara, setting it in front of him. The bell rang. The whole class got up and left, Gaara sat there staring at it.

"Look over it, pick what you want to do and let me know." I grumbled and grabbed my things.

"Sakura." I looked up to see Sasuke standing in the doorway. I smiled and ran over to him, he put his arms around me and kissed my forehead, glaring over my shoulder. "You're to stay away from him, understand?" He hissed as we left the room.

"I have a project with him, Sasuke, I can't help it." I said back, glancing over my shoulder in time to see Gaara leaving the room and going the other way, a paper in his hand. "It's not like I have a choice. Trust me, I don't want to ever be that close to grumpy gills again."

Sasuke put his arm around me as we went to lunch.

After school was over, Sasuke brought me home, then left. He had to go to football practice. I hummed as I walked up my porch steps and into the house, calling out to my mom that I was home.

"I'm in the kitchen!" She called back. I smiled and walked over to the swinging door. "How was school?" She asked when I came in flipping through the mail.

"Ugh... it was horrible! I got assigned a project with this new kid. He's a total creep!" I tossed down the mail but held onto one from my grandmother. I opened it and smiled, she wrote me a letter after I left.

_Dear my little cherry blossom,_

_I'm sorry that I didn't have time to talk to you about this while you were here, but I didn't want others to hear it. So, don't let anyone read this sweety, ok? _

_Well, that picture you drew of your boyfriend and your father, it tells me something bad is going to happen. I don't know what, but you know it too, that's why you drew that without thinking about it. This is your bodys way of telling you something bad is going to happen. I looked at it while you were out partying with your bother on new years, then again after Christmas. I hope you don't mine, deary. There is a great amount of detail in it, I'm very impressed. But, I would keep your eyes open, Sakura. You never know what might come around the corner._

_Last night, I got online and searched a few things up. If you start having dreams, let me know straight away, alright? I don't want anything to happen to my favorite granddaughter. And keep your eyes on your father, I was talking to your mother the other day, she said theres something that he's not telling her. Something that keeps him out late and returning early morning. I'm sure you've noticed by now. She doesn't think he would cheat on her, and neither do I. Its' something else, something big. Like he's planning something._

_Keep your eyes open and write back to me. I love you with all my heart, and grandpa sends his love, too._

_Love,_

_Grandmother. _

I walked to my room as I read it, I reread it and read it again. I was now sitting at my desk staring at the paper. Father had been acting weird lately. He hadn't been quite so abusive to me or mother for a few weeks. I haven't heard them yelling in weeks, and I always hear him coming home around two in the morning. Grandmother is right, something is going on.

I wrote her a reply and ran out the door without grabbing my jacket to put it in the mail box at the corner of the street. I stared at the big blue box for a few minutes, rubbing my shivering arms. The I turned around and started walking back to the house, father was going to be home from work soon, he would be mad if mom and I hadn't got dinner ready by then.

My mind wandered as I helped mom cook. Dad was acting weird, weirder then he normally did. Everyone knew he was cheating on my mother, even she did, but that's not what I was thinking about. I was thinking about that man that mom ran into at the airport. He looked scary, someone dad would like to talk to. Father was a man who liked power, he liked to make others shake with fear at just hearing his name. He would love to "tame" that man, as he called it. But, why would father want to get involved with those kind of men? Why would someone fly all the way out here just to meet with him?

The direction of my thoughts turned, they went to that boy, the one that smelt like drugs and beer.

I shivered at the thought of him being related to that awful man. Mom didn't seem bothered by it, but I don't know. Mom doesn't show a lot of things, she hides everything and bottles it all up, saving it for later. But, what that later is, I have no idea. I've talked to her about it once, she said it was nothing and sent me off to get ready for bed, that night was the night I ran to Kyoto crying. Mom was screaming at father, and I could hear the sound of a hand connecting with something. The next day, mom had a black eye. She told me she fell and hit the dresser, she didn't know that Kyoto and I could hear everything. That happened when I was six. When Kyoto was still living at home. When everything started going down hill.

I shook my head to clear my mind of those thoughts and focused on helping mom make dinner.

Once it was nine, I left to get ready for bed. I had finished all of my homework after dinner while mom and I watched TV. Dad left right after he was through eating, and wouldn't be back until early morning. I brushed out my long pink hair and brushed my teeth. As I walked back to my room, I could hear mom on the phone with someone, she was talking about a plane ticket, a one way. I stopped to listen for a few seconds.

"Yes... to Saint Barbar... Yes, thank you... I'll hold..." There was a long pause before she started talking again. "Yes, Tuesday the 15th... Mmhmm... Thank you very much. Yes, just one ticket." My heart stopped. She was going somewhere without me? I covered my mouth and quickly ran to my room, unlocking it with the card that was around my neck.

I ran strait over to my bed and screamed into my pillow. How could she do this to me? Why was she leaving? Why wasn't she getting a round trip ticket? Did this mean she wasn't coming back? The 15th.. that was in one week. So, thats how much time I had left with her? I screamed into my pillow again, the tears making me choke. How... how could she just leave me like this?

I cried myself to sleep that night.

The next morning I woke to mother banging on my door, yelling for me to hurry up, Sasuke would be there soon. I stumbled out of bed and to the bathroom, turning on the water. I stripped from my pajama pants and tank top before I jumped in under the scorching hot water, I turned it down a little, so people wouldn't ask why I was all red. After scrubbing my hair and body clean, I towel dried my body. Then, I pulled on a short jean skirt with Sasuke's home jersey over it. They had an away game today, so I got to wear his home jersey for the day and while I was at the game cheering him on.

I left my hair down and grabbed my bag on my way out of my room, slipping my feet into knee high fuzzy boots by my bedroom door. I've always thought it odd that they were still doing football in January, but I loved to watch them play. It was one of my favorite sports. If I wasn't a girl, I would be out the field playing with them. I quickly skipped down the stairs and met mom in the kitchen, she held out a plate with a bagel on it.

"Thanks momma." I smiled and kissed her cheek, trying to forget what I heard last night. A beep from outside came. "Bye!" I took half of the bagel and ran to the door, going outside with my jacket around my arm. Sasuke was waiting in the driveway for me. I smiled and skipped my way down to his car, getting inside. "Morning." I said cheerfully.

"Hn." He started driving off without a morning kiss. I frowned slightly but shrugged it off. I was usually done eating when I got into his car, so he probably wanted me to eat. So, I took a bite of my bagel with cream cheese.

We got to school at our normal time, even though I had been running a little late. Sasuke put his arm over my shoulders as we walked form the parking lot to the school, I could hear the sound of motorcycles coming in from behind us, Sasuke stopped and turned around. I looked to. A black bike with a red symbol pulled up next to his car, _very_ close. Sasuke growled and started walking back towards the cars, leaving me behind. I stared as the biker looked up when Sasuke started yelling. Sasuke walked up to his car and started inspecting for any damage, the biker just sat on his bike watching him. Sasuke started yelling again, motioning towards the school, at me. The bikers head turned, I could feel their eyes looking at me from head to toe. I had to hold back a shiver. It looked like the biker scoffed, his head pulled back a little, he never turned away from me, I couldn't take my eyes from him. Who was he? He sure had to have some big balls to ignore Sasuke like that.

Two hands reached up and grabbed the helmet, with one swift move, it was pulled off. Red hair fell over Gaara's face, a smirk planted on his lips as he stared at me. I gulped. His head didn't move, but he looked back at Sasuke, said something, and got off his bike. Gaara started walking towards me, I couldn't take my eyes off of him, why was he staring at me like that? He started walking up the steps, the glint in his eyes reminded me of a animal stalking its prey. As he passed, we looked at each other, our head barely moving, he smirked and kept walking past me. I turned to watch his back, until the doors shut behind him.

"Sakura." Sasuke hissed, roughly grabbing my arm and pushing me against the brick wall. I gasped and finally looked at him. "Stay away from him, got it?" He hissed in my face. I nodded. "Project or not, you go near him, talk to him, _look_ at him, and you will regret it. Got it?" I nodded, then he kissed me rougher then he has ever before, then was gone just like that.

I stood there until the bell rang, my heart was literally in my throat. It was hard to breathe. Sasuke had just threatened me. I know he could really hurt me if he wanted to, but I don't think he would resort to that. He's not that stupid. Or so I hope.

I slowly walked into the school, heading for my first class, it was no use going to homeroom, this would be the first thing I've ever skipped. And it was because of Sasuke. My feet dragged down the hall, I was the only one there. Once the bell rang, telling us it was time for our first class, the halls started to fill with other students, my eyes stayed on the floor. I slowly made my way to my locker. My mind couldn't wrap around the fact that my boyfriend had just threatened me, actually threatened me. I made it to my locker and unlocked it, shoving all of the books I didn't need until after class in it, along with my bag. I took out my math, science and history book.

"Sakura? Hello, earth to Sakura!" I jumped back seeing a hand in front of my face. I took a deep breath and looked to my side, Ino was looking at me like I grew another head.

"Don't look at me like that." I grumbled, slamming my locker shut. "You make me feel stupid."

"Well, I was standing here talking to you, and you weren't even paying attention! Of course your stupid, silly!" She giggled and smacked my shoulder playfully.

"What ever, Ino-pig." I smirked and started walking off.

"Forehead!" She called back.

"Ino-pig!" I called over my shoulder, seeing her face turn a bright red when people started staring at her.

"Not fair! I'm _so_ getting you back later!" She yelled down the hall.

"Looking forward to it!" I called back and entered the class room, my day was starting to look better.

Ino and I usually fought like that, I'm surprised people still stared when we just started yelling out names in the halls. I could understand the new kids staring, but everyone else still did. But, the funny thing is, that if anyone else started calling me or Ino names, the other would be all up and down their asses. We were like sisters, of course we were going to have our moments, even if they were every other day or so. I was smiling when I sat in my seat between Sasuke and Hinata. Genma-sensei already had I work wrote on the board, so I took out my notebook and wrote it all down, making sure I got everything.

"Sakura, where were you this morning?" Hinata asked in a hushed whisper, not looking up from her math book. Genma-sensei didn't like talking when we were working from our books.

"I... had something to do." I glanced at Sasuke, he was looking down at his book. "Sorry, I should have text you so you wouldn't worry." I gave her a meaning full look before turning back to my book, Genma was watching us now. I quickly finished my classwork and stood, ripping the paper from my spiral notebook.

I walked up to the front of the class and handed Genma-sensei my work, He raised an eyebrow and skimmed over it. "Kakashi-sensei missed you in homeroom today, Hanuro." He said, setting my paper down. "Where were you?"

"I had something I needed to take care of in the office, I was just going to ask you for a pass so that I can go give Kakashi-sensei my pass from earlier." I held up a paper that was folded in half, he eyed me then wrote down a quick note on a slip of paper, handing it to me.

"Hurry back." He grumbled as I left the room.

Once in the hall, I sighed and started making my way down the hall towards the office. I needed a real pass for Kakashi-sensei, I was hopping Tsunade-sama would let me slip past this one time. After all, I was the best student in the whole school. I never got into trouble, and I never was late, except this one time. I was trying to think of something that she would believe, I didn't want to tell her what Sasuke said to me. She was like my second mother, she would track him down and give him multiple detections just because she was the principal. My feet moved sluggishly down the hallway, I was in no hurry, it wasn't even half way through the class yet, I still had a good fifteen minutes to a half hour before Genma-sensei would put the homework on the board.

I was now passing the lockers, folding the note in tiny little squares, my mind miles from here. So much had happened sense coming home from my vacation in New York.

"Hey, you." A deep voice came from my left. I stopped and slowly turned my head, my heart went into over drive. "You're my history partner, correct?" Gaara smirked.

**....O.o... whats gunna happen?!??!?! OMG OMG!!... hehe... I'll have the next chapter up as soon as I can!!! Rview please!!**


	4. Working Together

Chapter 3, Working Together.

I gasped at seeing Gaara leaning against the lockers. He wore the same smirk that he had on earlier, the one that said "I'm better then you, bow down to my greatness". I glared. I hated people who thought they were better then others, the ones that put people down to feel better about themselves.

"Yeah, I'm Hanuro Sakura." I said, turning to face him.

His eyebrow went up, well, the skin where it was supposed to be went up. "I didn't ask who you were, women. I asked if you were that girl." He pushed away from the lockers and held out a piece of paper.

"What is it?" I asked as I took it from him, it was the paper that I wrote all of my ideas on the other day. But, now it had more wrote down on it, and in a different color pen then my blue one.

"Meet me at the bleachers during lunch, we can talk about it then." I looked up, only to see his back facing me, he was walking away.

I stared at his back for a few seconds before looking back down at the paper. I slowly walked towards the office as I read over what he wrote, it was really good. Really really good. Some of the things was something like what I wrote, but it was different coming from his mind, a lot different. Instead of doing how the Pharaoh ruled the lands of Egypt, he had down how the slaves were abused by the great Pharaoh. I was standing in the office still reading when I heard someone clear their throat, I looked up startled.

"What can I do for you, Sakura?" A women with short black hair asked from behind the assistants desk. I smiled at her.

"I would like to talk to Tsunade-sama."

"She's meeting with someone at the moment, but you can take a seat and wait if you would like." She motioned to the chairs on the side of the wall. I smiled and nodded, looking back down at the paper as I took a seat.

I read the paper over three times before the door was cracked open. My eyes darted up as Tsunade came out of her room, followed by that man I saw at the airport. I gasped and stared at him, he looked down at me as he passed, Gaara came out behind him. My eyes flickered to Gaara, he was glaring down at the floor.

"I'll see you after school today, Sabaku, and every other freaking day this week." Tsunade grumbled the last part. "Thank you for coming to meet with me, Mr. Sabaku." My mouth fell open. That man was Gaara's father.

"I'm very sorry about my son's behavior. I asure you that it will not happen again." The man nodded to Tsunade and walked out the door. Gaara just stood there, staring at the floor, well, glaring at the floor.

"You can go back to class, Gaara." Tsunade rested her hand on the redheads shoulder for a brief second before turning to me. "What can I do for you, Sakura?" She gave me a smile.

"Um, well, I need a pass for homeroom." I stood and rubbed my arm, giving her a sheepish smile. "I was kind of stuck in my own thoughts the whole time, and missed it."

"That's no problem at all." She smiled and picked up the phone that was on her assistants desk. "Who's your homeroom teacher?"

"Kakashi-sensei."

"It's all taken care of, Sakura. You may go back to class."

"Shaji." I gave her a small wave and left the room (_Shaji means thanks_).

I stepped out into the hall and started making my way back to class, my head moving side to side with a song that was stuck in my head, my lips were moving with the words. The paper was folded in my hand, my mind was thinking about it, not really looking where I was walking. Then, before I knew what was happening, I smacked right into something rock hard and started falling backwards, only to be caught and pulled up right, flat against someones body. My eyes opened and I gasped.

"You need to watch where you are going, Sakura." I didn't like the way he said my name. How it curled around his tongue. "You might get hurt." He whispered in my ear, the feeling of his breath was enough to make me want to throw up. I was vaguely away of his arm that was wrapped out my waist, his hand pressing me against his chest.

"Let go, Gaara." I hissed, pushing away from him. "Thank you for catching me, but now you can go away." I tried to walk past him, but his arm against the locker blocked my way.

"Now why would I do that?" His face was to close to mine, I could smell something on his breath. Something I used to smell to much for my liking. Smoke. He had been smoking.

"Move." I hissed, closing my eyes. I don't know when I got this much curage, I usually cowered under someone like this guy. He scared the crap out of me, but I couldn't let him get to me, not when we had a history project to do together. "Now." It was a whisper, but meaning full. I reopened my eyes, he was no where in sight. I let out a ragged breath and leaned against the lockers. The fear was finally settling in. My legs shook, my whole body was trembling. And the best part is, I get to spend the whole next class and lunch with this creep.

I took a few deep breaths to calm my nerves and get rid of the shaking. I stood strait and pushed my hair back, stalking off to class. I missed the smirking boy that was standing next to one of the lockers. I entered the class with a scowl and walked up to my seat, flopping down in it and starting on the homework that was on the board. Hinata was looking at me with concerned eyes, I didn't look at Sasuke, I knew he wouldn't care. Only when someone touched me did he care. A blush spread on my cheeks at remembering how Gaara held me close to his body.

"Sakura? Are you feeling ok? Your face is all red..." Hinata trailed off putting her hand to my forehead. I blushed even more and waved my hands at her.

"I'm fine, really!" I laughed nervously and gave her a smile. "Just a little aggravated. It's nothing to worry about." I gave her another smile and turned back to my work, I could feel Genma's evil eye pointed at me.

When the next class finally came, I walked with Hinata and we met up with Shikamaru in the hall. We all took our usual seats and started talking. Shikamaru was actually paying attention instead of falling right to sleep like he usually did. Hinata and I were whispering about her date with Naruto that was coming up, the idiot had finally realized that she likes him, and asked her to go get ramen with him tomorrow. Hinata was blushing the whole time, I was surprised she hadn't fainted yet. Naruto was late, but was here a few minutes before Kakashi-sensei came into the room.

"Get to work on your projects." He waved his hand in the air, putting his feet up on the desk, pulling out a orange book. "I want all of your topics on the board by the end of the day." His head went down, and he didn't say another word.

Naruto was standing next to my desk with a sad look on his face. "Sorry, Sakura." He whispered as I stood up with a sigh.

"It's fine. Just a project right?" I gave him a smile and started making my way to the back of the class. Gaara wasn't even there. I flopped down on the chair and glared at the paper that was on the top of my note book. I crossed off the ones that I didn't want to do, I would let Gaara pick from the remaining three.

But, alas, the redhead bad-boy was no where in sight. Something in my stomach churned, what was this feeling? Why was I worrying about him? I don't even know him! I took out my pencil and started drawing on a blank page in my notebook.

"So nice of you to join us, Sabaku." Kakashi grumbled.

"Hn." I looked up to see the redhead smirking at me as he walked over to where I was sitting. I passed the paper to his desk before he was half way there, I didn't want to have to talk to him if it wasn't needed. Gaara sat down and lifted the paper to his eyes. I wrote notes on the edges, explaining what I did, and why I crossed things out. He grunted and circled one of them, passing it back to me.

"You sure?" I asked as I stood, he raised an eyebrow at me. I sighed and started walking down to the front of the room with the paper. Kakashi handed me a stick of chalk as I passed him to write down our names and the topic. "Ancient Egypt- Hanuro Sakura and Sabaku no Gaara" I wrote down on the board with my perfect penmanship. When I got back to my seat I pulled out a laptop from my pile of books, turning it on as I set it down on the desk. Might as well get started, I thought, pulling up a new web page.

I pulled up Google and typed in our topic, coming up with 103 results. I made my way down the list, I found a few good things and took some notes on it. I could feel Gaara reading over my shoulder, but when I looked at him, his eyes were closed and it was like he was sleeping. I scowled and turned back to my screen, tilting it so that I could see Gaara's reflection. As soon as I turned, his eyes opened and he was looking at me. I glared at his reflection. It seemed like the class would never end, and when it did, Gaara leaned closer to me.

"I'll be waiting by the bleachers." He whispered and left. I sat in my seat with wide eyes. My heart pounded in my chest, it felt like it was going to pop right out.

"Sakura, you coming?" I looked up to see Naruto and Hinata waiting by the door, and was surprised to see that Sasuke wasn't there. He always met me here before going to lunch.

"Y-yeah." I quickly grabbed my things and walked down to them, we headed to lunch.

I munched on a bag of chips as I walked down to the field, glad they put salt down on the ice. My boots wouldn't keep me from falling. There was a soft wind blowing, carrying my hair around my neck and face. The sky was a bright blue, odd for the winter, but it was beautiful. I stared up as I walked down the small slope into the fields gates. My eyes roamed over the vast bleachers, there was so many, surrounding the whole field. There was a lone figure sitting near center field, way to at the top. I slowly made my way up, tossing out my chip bag as I went. Gaara didn't look at me as I set my bag down and sat next to him. He didn't say anything. I started to hum a tune as I took out my notebook and the paper that had our topic on it.

"So..." I looked up at him with a forced smile, he was looking at me with a blank face. "where do you want to start?" Gaara shrugged and looked away, reaching for something in his pocket. "Gaara!" I gasped. "You can't smoke! This is school grounds!" He gave me the "And I'm supposed to care?" face and lit his cigarette.

"How much do you know on Ancient Egypt?" He said after taking a long drag.

I plugged my nose and gave him a disgusted look. "I know about the gods. I did a essay on the Gods of the hunt when I was in middle school. So, we're covered on them." I coughed a little. "What do you know?"

"Everything," He gave me a small smirk and blew smoke in my face.

"Not cool, Gaara!" I yelled and jumped up from my seat, smacking him in the back of the head. "It's obvious that I don't like you smoking around me, you should know that I would _hate_ that!" I let a few coughs out and fanned the air around me, then gasped when I realized who I had just hit. I slowly looked back down at him.

Gaara was staring at the ground, trying to calm himself not to hurt me. I could tell from the way he was shaking. He slowly stood, eyes closed and facing strait instead of towards me. The cigarette dropped from his hand to the ground, where he stepped on it, finally turning to face me.

"P-please don't hit me." I whispered, taking a step away from him.

"I would never hit a girl." He growled. "But don't think for a second," He leaned closer to me, reaching out to grab my arm when I took another step back. He didn't stop until our faces were barely an inch apart. "that I won't get back at you for it." His breath rolled over my cheeks, I had to turn my face away because of the smell of smoke, it made my insides churn. "Watch your back, women." He growled and started walking off.

"W-we have to d-do our project!" I called after him, he turned his head, not stopping.

"It's taken care of." Then he was gone below the stairs.

I stood there in the cold, my breath spiraling towards the sky. Did he just say he would do it? Or was I going to have to do it all by myself? I shifted my weight to my other foot as I glanced down at the field, people were starting to fill in, getting ready for the game later on. I sighed and started making my way back to the school, lunch was almost over.

For the rest of the day all I could think about was that redhead. His voice filled my ears, his face plagued my thoughts. I couldn't focus on anything for the rest of the day. I was now on my way home in Sasuke's car, I was riding with Hinata to the game at five. My bag was extra heavy, it was crammed with all of TenTen's and Hinata's notes that I was going to copy. Sasuke dropped me off at the end of my driveway and sped off. I watched as he turned the corner.

"Love you, too." I whispered as I walked to the house.

There was no one home, and it surprised me. Mom was always home when I got back from school, and the car was in the driveway, but she wasn't here. I searched the house for her, every room, every closet. She was nowhere in the house. I sighed and went to my room, unlocking it. I tossed my bags on my bed before going over to my closet to change for the game. I took out a pair of tight fitting jeans and a long sleeve shirt for under the jersey. After I changed I walked out of my room and into the bathroom, turning on the hair curler. Once I had a few loose curls in my hair, I went back to my room to get a pair of sneakers, thats when I realized that there was a envelope on my floor, like someone slipped it under my door. I picked it up and turned it over.

_Sakura_

I quickly opened it seeing my mothers hand writing on it. I tore out the paper and scanned it, reading it over and over, tears started falling from my eyes.

_-Sakura_

_I'm so sorry sweetheart, but I couldn't take it anymore. I had to leave. I don't know if I will be coming back for you soon, but I promise I will be. I will come and get you, once I have a place of my own and its suitable for you to live in. I love you, don't __**ever**__ forget that, Sakura.__** Ever.**__ You are my pride and joy. I love you SO much. _

_-Mom._

_P.S. Your brother knows about this, too. He has been helping me plan this for a little while, even my mother has helped me a little, giving me enough money for a plane ticket. Kyoto said you are welcome to live with him for a little if your father gets to much for you to handle. I will write to you often, but will not give a return address. Send your letter to Grammy and she will send it to me. I'm sorry, I can't risk your father knowing where I am. I love you._

I fell to my knees with silent tears rolling down my cheeks, my breaths coming in gasps. I thought I had a week, but that turned into a day. She was gone, and never coming back. I couldn't breath. My heart ached. I couldn't see. Everything was suddenly black.

"Sakura?!" Bang bang bang. "Sakura are you home?!" Three more bangs echoed through the house, bringing me to my senses.

I jumped to my feet and ran over my my mirror, wiping off all of my make-up that was running down from my soaked eyes. My name was yelled again, I called back to them. I ran down the stairs, pulling a brush through my hair, I wouldn't let anyone know what happened. They couldn't find out. I tossed open the door and turned around, getting a small glance of Hinata and TenTen's surprised faces, it was rare I was ever late, very rare.

"Come on in, guys." I said, realizing how rough my voice sounded. They followed me up the stairs and into my room.

"Wow, Sakura... you look like shit." TenTen said when I turned and gave them a smile. "Are you feeling okay?"

"She doesn't have a fever or anything." Hinata said quietly, putting her hand to my forehead.

"I'm fine guys! Really!" I laughed nervously and backed to to my mirror to start replacing my make-up. "I just fell asleep. It's nothing to worry about, just a bad dream." I was silently hoping that this was all a dream, wishing that I would wake up and go down stairs to fine mom making me muffins for breakfast. "Let's go!" I spun around and smiled at them, my insides were falling apart.

**please review!!**


	5. Hiding

**Alright guys! Here's my next chapter! I hope you all like it! Let me know in a review please! And if you have anything to say that will help me make it better, feel free to let me know!! Thanks!**

Chapter 4, Hiding.

The game went well, we won by a touchdown. Sasuke, of course, was the star of the game, running in the last touchdown of the night, saving us from losing. I was standing on the side lines the whole time, cheering him on. After the game ended, they did their usual group jump thing, and high fives, and what ever they always do, then Sasuke came running over to me, lifting me in the air and kissing me. It was what always happened, nothing new. But this time, he didn't kiss me, he didn't run over to me, he didn't even look my way before they all crowded down the stairs to the locker room.

I asked Hinata for a ride home.

Father was there when I got home, he was mad because his supper wasn't done. He didn't even know mom wasn't there until after I got him his food. He started yelling at me, he even through a plate. I ran to my room, locking it as quickly as I could. He pounded on my door for hours, coming back to pound on it in the middle of the night, demanding me to tell him where mother is. I didn't say anything back. I just stared at my wall and pretended like nothing was wrong. Like I was still five, when Kyoto was still home, before Daddy started cheating, when mom was happy. Everything was perfect then. Everything was how it was supposed to be. Now, dad was starting to drink again, Kyoto was miles away from me, mom, who knows where she is! And, even Sasuke is acting weird!

I didn't get any sleep. My wall was very interesting last night. How the light from the moon traveled over it, how it made long shadows from my curtains and the lamp. I dragged myself out of bed an hour early because I was board. I took a long shower and blow dried my hair, putting my bangs to the side with a few clips. I don't know how long I stared at myself, but there was a horn beeping outside of my house. I grabbed my bag and walked down the stairs, dad was gone by now, and wouldn't be home until late. That made me a little happy.

My small smile turned into an instant frown when I saw that the car wasn't Sasuke's.

"Sakura!" Naruto called, waving out his window. Hinata was waving from the seat next to him.

"Hey." I waved back and walked down to the bright orange car, getting in the back next to Hinata's little sister. Naruto backed out, Hinata's face paled once we hit the road. "Naruto?" He adjusted the mirror so he could see me. "Do you have anything to eat? I'm starving." As if to strengthen my meaning, my stomach growled.

"Um, I think so. Hinata, look in the glove thingy." He pointed with his hand to the compartment above her knees. "I think there's some chips or something in it." Hinata opened it up, and sure enough, a small bag of chips fell out on her knees. She handed it to me with a small smile.

"Thanks." I popped it open and took a bite. No one talked to me as we drove to school, first dropping Hinata's sister off at the middle school, then on our way to Konoha High.

When we got to school, Hinata whispered something to Naruto, and he ran off, giving us glances over his shoulder. Hinata linked her arm with mine, pulling me in a whole different direction from the school, we were heading towards the football fields. I gave her a questioning look, but she just smiled at me and pulled me along. No one was out on the fields when Hinata and I started walking down the middle, I was staring at her the whole time, I could tell from the way that she fiddled with her fingers that she was trying to tell me something.

"Hinata, spit it out. I don't bite." I joked and gently pushed her shoulder with mine.

"I love you, you know that right, Sakura?" She looked up at me with worried eyes.

"Yes, and I love you back. Now, tell me before I tickle you!" I wiggled my fingers at her. If there was one thing Hinata didn't like, it was being tickled.

"Okay, okay! Just no eating the messenger." I nodded, now worried about what she was about to share with me. "Well... you know how Sasuke has been acting weird and stuff? Like, around that new kid, and around you?"

"What are you getting at?" I stopped walking and stared at her. "What do you know?"

"Sasuke and Gaara have a past, Sakura. Their fathers are in a business with each other. Sasuke hates Gaara, and now that he has a project with 'his girl', its even worse. I guess they used to be friends and stuff, but something happened between them. Sasuke passed out before Naruto could get anymore out of him. Now I know why you say its like babysitting a baby when Sasuke's drunk." She let out a small giggle, and stopped talking. I continued to stare, but it didn't look like she was going to say anything else for a little while.

"What about me?"

Hinata looked away from my face, I could see the tears starting to well up in her eyes. "He's cheating on you." she whispered.

"Well, yeah. I've known that." She looked at me oddly. "It's obvious, isn't it?" I shrugged and started walking again, she followed. "I mean, its not like he's trying to hide it or anything. He's been doing it for awhile. I've been waiting for the right time to-" I suddenly broke off mid sentence, smelling an all to familier smell coming from the bleachers. I didn't even look his way as I grabbed Hinata's arm. "Let's do back to the school, it's cold out." I dragged her behind me, she gave a squeak of surprise. I shoved Hinata out the gate, looking over my shoulder at Gaara, he was watching us, blowing out a ring of smoke.

"Hinata! Sakura!" Naruto waved from a table in the cafeteria. Hinata waved back, and we made our way over.

On our walk back to the school, I told her that it was fine, and that I was going to talk to Sasuke about it, that I didn't want her or Naruto telling anyone about it, and that I was going to take care of it. I didn't want them to get involved with my stuff. Hinata agreed after a few explanations. I took my seat next to Sasuke, he pulled me closer and kissed me deeply, I saw Naruto glance from us to Hinata and back. Hinata shrugged and whispered something to him, I kissed Sasuke back.

"Where have you been, Sakura?" Sasuke asked me, holding me by my hips.

"Talking with Hinata. How come you didn't pick me up?" I brushed a lock of hair from my eyes and looked up at him with sad eyes. "I was waiting for you."

"I'm sorry, Sakura. I called Naruto and asked him to pick you up because I was running really late. Forgive me?" He put his forehead against mine and gently kissed my lips, I could still smell the beer on his breath.

"We'll see." I stood up as the bell rung, grabbing TenTen and pulling her away to our next class, I saw Sasuke's confused face as we left the room, and Naruto's smirk.

"Come on, Gaara!" I groaned, banging my head against the desk for the fifth time this class.

It was third period, and we were working on our projects. I had let Gaara look up a few things on my laptop, but he wouldn't give it back, and he wouldn't let me see what he was doing on it. I turned my head to the side to glance at him, his face was close to the screen, and he was smirking.

"I swear, if you are looking up porn, you're fucking dead." I growled at him. He looked at me with his "eyebrow" raised. I growled again.

"Fine. Here." He passed it back to me, clicking something off the screen.

I grabbed it and went to history... there was nothing there. He deleted it before he gave it back. Perfect. I glared at him and started my own research, and I was nice enough to let him look over my shoulder at it.

"Listen, we need to do a lot more work on this. I have some time to work on it after school at the town library. Would you be able to come and help me?" I looked over my shoulder at him, he was leaning towards me with one arm over the back of my chair. "Yes or no?"

He shrugged and leaned back in his own chair, turning the laptop towards him. He clicked open a notepad page and started typing something to me.

_If you get your friends to stop staring at me and talking about me behind my back. If they have something to say, they need to say it to my face._

I read it and glanced up to where Naruto and Hinata was sitting, Naruto was glaring at Gaara over his shoulder, but when I caught his eye, he quickly snapped his head around. The same with Shikamaru, but he just stared back at me until I raised my eyebrow, then he shrugged and turned back to his own work. This bugged me. Gaara wasn't... _that_ bad.

_Fine. Meet me after school, I can stay until 5:30. No later._

Gaara read it and nodded, standing to grab his things just as the bell rang. I shut my screen down and put it in my bag, slinging it over my shoulder. Naruto and Hinata were waiting for me by the door. I walked down with them and we started walking off to lunch.

"Hanuro." I stopped and turned around, Gaara was still standing by the door. "Here." He flicked a folded piece of paper in the air, it was in my direction. I caught it and looked back up, but all I could see was his back.

"What is it?" Hinata asked, staring down at the paper in my hand.

"I don't know." I unfolded it and read the writing over a few times before I quickly shoved it in my bag with a blush. He was going to get it later when I saw him. Oh, was he going to get it. "It's nothing." I grumbled and walked faster then them, the blush was burning my face.

At lunch, instead of sitting next to Sasuke, I sat between TenTen and Ino. There was some new girl sitting next to Sasuke, she had blue hair and was giggling at everything he said, I was trying to push it out of my head, to block it all of.

_-Sakura._

_If you need a ride to the library after school, wait for me near the doors. _

_-Gaara._

_PS. Thanks for the view. New bra? The black lace matches you well._

I read the note again at I stood outside of the school, waiting for the guy that was going to give me a ride, and obviously look down my shirt a few more times. All of the busses had already left, and so had all of my friends. Still, Gaara was nowhere to be found. I gritted my teeth as I started walking down the steps to look for him. I walked down to the parking lot, I gasped at seeing the bike. I just remembered what he drove, and to top it all off, I'm wearing a skirt! Why the hell would anyone drive a motorcycle during the _winter_?!

"Here. You might need this." I gasped and spun around to see Gaara holding out a leather jacket. I didn't move, just stared. "Do you want it or not?" He started pulling it back when I reached for it. My legs were going to freeze. I pushed my arms through the sleeves and pulled my hair out of the caller. He walked over to the bike and pulled sat on it, it roared to life. I stood there like an idiot staring at him. "What's the hold up?" He asked over the engine. He motioned with his head to get on.

"I-I've never been on one before!" I called over the roar. I could tell he sighed from the way his shoulders lifted and fell. He held out his hand to me.

"You won't fall. I won't let you. Now, come on, we have only a few hours to work on this thing."

I stared at his hand for a few seconds before taking it in mine and letting him pull me closer to him and the bike. I lifted my leg and slung it over the back, sitting down and wrapping my arms around Gaara's chest. He took my arms and pushed them down a little, he said something about needing to breath. I yelled for him to go slow, but he just laughed. We were off like a bullet. I screamed and squeezed myself harder to him, holding on for dear life. He wasn't even driving with two hands! One of his hands was resting on my arms, holding on to it so that I didn't go flying. My eyes were so tightly closed that I missed the black car sitting down the lane from where Gaara was parked. Onyx eyes turned red as they watched us speed off.

My hands clenched in Gaara's jacket as we sped down the street, I laughed and lifted my head off his back, letting the wind blow through my hair. Gaara's hand left my arm, we were suddenly in half in the air. He glanced back at me as he pushed the front tire back down on the pavement, I smiled at him and yelled for him to go faster. He smirked and nodded.

"Hold on!" He yelled back to me. My arms tightened around his waist, my face leaning on his shoulder

blade.

"That was awesome!" I laughed as I got off the back of his bike. We were now at the town library, down in the parking lot. He was smirking as he cut the engine and put the kick stand down. I ran my hands through my hair while my head was flipped down, then flipped it back up and shook my head, my hair was probably a huge mess. "Let's go hit the books!" I said with fake enthusiasm. Gaara rolled his eyes and motioned for me to go first.

I was walking around the shelves with Gaara behind me. I picked out a book about Egypt and set it on the stack that Gaara was carrying, I had one small book in my hand. Gaara grunted as I added another to the pile, I gave him a odd look.

"I think we have enough." He turned and started walking back to the desk we were working at, ten big books in his arms. I smiled and skipped after him, passing him in seconds.

"If you say so." I sat down as he put the books on the table, creating a loud thud. I giggled and picked up the book that was on top. He rolled his eyes and took the next one.

For the next few hours we read books and more books and even more books, then we started writing a story about a made up character that was from that time. Kakashi-sensei handed, or rather left on his desk, a stack of sheets explaining what we had to do, Gaara was the only one to see them, so, they were the only ones who were getting a head start on this whole project-write-a-book-about-your-topic thing. Sakura had wrote down many quick notes as Gaara read more of the many stacks of books Sakura had picked out.

Sakura coughed as she slammed a rather large dictionary shut in front of her, dust spewing out in her face. She had picked up the book to help her with spelling the old words, and finding longer words to put in to make it sound more like back-then-ish.

"Gaara? Can you take this please?" She shoved the book over to his side of the table. "It's a little heavy for me." She gave him a small smile and watched as he rolled his eyes, heaving the book into his arms. It looked weightless as he carried it back to its resting place. "Thank you!" She called to him, organizing her papers into piles that was was going to put away in her bag. A bag that was still strapped to Gaara's bike. She blushed remembering her ride here, and blushed darker thinking about her ride home.

"Ready?" He asked, taking his own papers. Sakura nodded and followed him out of the library, she glanced at the clock before she left. She still had an hour before her father would be home, she had time to kill. Gaara held his hand out to her like he did the first time, but Sakura had no hesitation as she took it and climbed on behind him.

"Can we ride around for a bit?" She called over the roaring engine. She felt him shrug and tightened her grip on his jacket as they sped off.

– – –

The next morning, Sasuke was there to pick me up. I smiled and acted like nothing was out of ordinary, and he did the same. No one would have known I cried myself to sleep.

When we got to school, though, he kept his arm tightly around me and glared at every guy that so much as looked at me. He even growled when Naruto said his usual "hi" when we got to the table. I tried to turn to face Hinata so that I could talk, but Sasuke's arm tightened and he pulled me closer to his side, glaring at my shy friend until she moved father away from me. I let it go, he couldn't keep this up forever. But, oh, was I wrong, very, very wrong.

He was where ever I was, standing outside of the bathroom until I came out. Hinata even said he wouldn't let anyone go in until I came out. He was skipping his classes to stand by the door, watching me the whole time. The worst part, was during third period, when I had to sit next to Gaara for our project. I was taking out papers, handing them to him, I had wrote down something the night before. Sasuke came stomping in, taking the papers from me and tossing them to the floor. He started yelling at me about nothing, then he grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the class. I barely got a glimpse of Naruto's raged face as he slammed the door behind us. Once we were out of ear shot, and away from the door Naruto was looking out, Sasuke started to insult me.

He told me I was worthless, saying that I was ugly. That I was nothing but a fat ugly and stupid girl. That I was nothing. The he was only dating me because he felt sorry for me. And, the worst part, I let him. I let him say all of it to me, each word crushing me more and more. I sunk against the wall, tears flowing out of my eyes as I listened to what he was yelling. I hugged my knees to my chest, I didn't want to hear this, I had so much I had to keep to myself already.

"Uchiha, Hanuro! Get to class!" A random teacher yelled. Sasuke glared at them and grabbed my arm, pulling me back down the hallway.

"You are going to go back in there and sit next to Hinata. I don't want to see you near Sabaku again." He hissed in my face as he opened the door and watched me walk in. I glanced back at him, the room was silent as I stepped in the door. "Go." He nodded towards where Naruto, Hinata, and Shikamaru were sitting. I slowly walked over and took an open seat between Hinata and Shikamaru.

"Sakura?" Hinata whispered, gently touching my arm. "Are you okay?" I didn't look up for a few seconds, and when I did, there was a smile on my face.

"Yeah. I'm fine. He just wanted to talk to me about something." She stared at me for a few more seconds before nodding and going back to talk to Naruto. I glanced over my shoulder at Gaara, he was staring at the door.

– – –

I laid on my bed clutching my stomach. My face hurt where he slapped me, my ribs hurt where he kicked me, and my leg hurt where he stepped on me.

I got home from school earlier then planned. Sasuke dropped me off right after the bell rang, getting me far away from the black and red bike that was parked a few spaces down from his black car. Dad wasn't home, but he came home around nine. And, he was drunk. He started hitting me as soon as he walked into the living room where I was doing my homework. He through me to the ground and started kicking me. I hurt all over. I couldn't sleep. I couldn't even cry to let the pain out. My arms wouldn't move, my legs were also immobile. The air in my room was freezing.

I woke with a start as my alarm beeped in my ear. I had got maybe five minutes to ten minutes of sleep the whole night, and they had been plagued with nightmares. I stiffly got out of my bed and walked to the bathroom, carefully pulling my tank top from my bruised body. There was a black and blue cloud handing on my left ribs, the edges turning a sickly yellow. I pulled my pants down, letting them fall around my ankles, there was a smiler cloud on my right leg. I started the shower and jumped in, thinking about what I could wear to hide the marks.

The ride to school with Sasuke was quiet, and when people were around, nothing was like it changed. We were still all over the other, acting as if nothing had happened between us, except when we were alone. I didn't look at him or talk, I was silent and stared in the other direction.

At lunch I stared at the lunch room's door, then turned and started walking away. I didn't need to be in there. I let my legs carry me where ever they were wanted to go. I ended up standing the in middle of the football field staring up at the light snow flakes that were rolling down from the grey sky. My breath traveled upwards in spirals. A firmer smell traveled down from the bleachers, but there was a twist to it this time. I smiled and turned around, heading towards the source. I found Gaara sitting in the same spot as the last few times I've seen him here, but he was smoking something different then his usual cigarettes. I took a seat next to him and stared at the thing he was sucking on.

"I didn't know you did pot." I said in a low tone. He shrugged and turned his head to look at me. "I'm sorry about yesterday and today... something... happened that... well, you get it." I ended with a small shrug and turned my face away from him.

"I don't need to know." He grumbled, taking another drag. "You don't need to explain." He stared at me for a few seconds, I didn't return the stare. "Why are you here and not eating lunch?"

I shrugged and started to stand. "I can leave if you don't want me here..." His hand flew out and grabbed the sleeve of my jacket, pulling me back down.

"Stay."

I gave him a small smile. "Have you started anything on the book yet?" He reached into the bag at his feet and pulled out a few sheets of paper. "Thanks." I took it and started reading it over. It was really good.

Gaara took the point of view from a girl living in ancient Egypt, a small girl who was a slave for the Pharaoh. She lived with her mother and older brother while her father helped the other slaves build the pyramid. The girl and her mother worked in the kitchens, cooking all of the food and cleaning anything that needed it around the palace. Her brother worked in the fields, bringing grain and other food to his mother and sister. He was very lucky not to be dragged into working along side his father, the was the worst thing that could possibly happen.

"Wow," I breathed, looking up from his writing. "this is really good, Gaara!" I gave him a big smile and started reading again, but it ended abruptly in the middle of a sentence. I frowned and looked up at him. He just shrugged.

"You can continue it from there, if you'd like. I don't care." He stood up and slung his bag over his shoulder, the bell was ringing.

"Okay." I shrugged and gently put it in my bag, expecting him to be long gone when I looked back up, but I was surprised to see him still standing there, watching me like he was waiting. I smiled and got in step with him, we walked back to the school talking lightly.


	6. Never Again

**Ok heres my next chapter! I know this one is kinda short, but, I was hoping to get something in before I left for awhile. I'm leaving for my birthday, for a few days. So, I wont be able to write while I'm away. I hope you like this, and let me know in a review! I love to get reviews! They make me all happy! lol!! Anyway, on with the story!!**

Chapter 5, Never again.

I put up with all of this for the next few weeks. I put up with the pain from mom leaving, the pain from fathers kicks and punches, and the pain from Sasuke's words, yet, none of it ever showed. I didn't let people know how I felt on the inside, my smiles were fake, but they were as real as they could get. They weren't any different from my real ones, they looked just the same.

I continued to spend every lunch with Gaara, and we acted like we didn't know the other when people were around. We barely talked when we were sitting next to the other in class, we only typed notes. Never spoke out loud. And, everyday I would stay after school until everyone was gone, and meet him down at the parking lot, him holding out the leather jacket for me. We rode around for hours, just speeding through the town, weaving in and out of cars. It was the best time of my life.

But, all of that was lived short when I got home. Father was almost always there, waiting for me. I didn't cry anymore when he hit me. I swore I would never cry under his fist again. Never again would he make me shed a tear.

Things with Sasuke were getting worse, he was starting to push me into things that I didn't want to do. He used the words to break me down, the he started pushing me. Pushing me far enough to break. I didn't know what was keeping me from breaking, I had nothing left. Mom never wrote back to me, Kyoto hasn't returned any of my calls for a few days, I had nothing. But, when I saw those jade orbs, it was like a spark of life came back to my sole.

Gaara was one of the only people I could trust, one of the only people who could see through my mask, but he was the only one that never asked me about anything. He always kept his mouth shut and kept my mind off of what ever it was. He always tired to think of things to keep out of sensitive subjects, and I was really great full about that.

Tsunade-sama was the only other person that noticed a difference in my smiles and attitude. She asked me on a few occasions, but never really pressed the matter. I was called to her office regularly, but refused to talk about anything that was going on at home, or at school. I only talked about my homework. That was the only safe subject. I knew she was only guessing right now, so I didn't want to feed anything to her. To make her question me more.

I was starting to grow away from my friends, partly because of Sasuke, and partly because I was spending all of my extra time with Gaara. I was starting to see less and less of them everyday. I didn't mind, I was fine hanging out with Gaara. Being with him made me happy, I felt like I could be anyone I wanted to be with him.

Today, wasn't one of those days. Sasuke had forced me to go to a party with him, he was drinking, and so was I. It was the first time I've ever drank in front of my friends. They all stared at me as I took drinks after drinks from Sasuke. And, he kept giving me them. I could hear myself slurring as I spoke, but it made me happy for once, and I couldn't stop drinking more of it. Sasuke dragged me into a room bringing our drinks. He started kissing me, touching me. I was to far gone to even think of telling him to stop. I let him push me down on the bed that was behind me. Sasuke fell on top of me and his hands continued to roam over my skin, pulling my shirt over my head.

I tried to push him away, but the alcohol made me weak. I couldn't scream because his tongue was shoved down my throat. I struggled against his hold, but he was to strong. He pinned my hands above my head and bit down on my neck, a scream finally came out. He slapped me across the face and started telling me how worthless I was. How no body would believe me over him anyway, so it was no use struggling.

So, I didn't. I let him have his way with me, tears falling down my eyes the whole time. It hurt. I've never felt something so painful in my life. Wasn't this supposed to be the best thing in the world? Wasn't it supposed to take me to another world, one where I would feel the best pleasure ever? They lied to me. All of them. Ino, she told me what it was like numerous times. It was nothing like she said it would be. It hurt. It didn't feel good. Not even a little bit. I felt nothing but pain. Pain that he wouldn't stop when I told him to, pain that mom was gone, pain from the marks father left on me, and pain between my legs with each thrust. I just laid there as he pounded into me over and over again. It seemed like forever until he was done. He fell on top of me and was breathing heavy. I pushed him off and turned away from him, curling into a small ball, just letting the tears silently fall from my eyes. I didn't want to be here, I wanted to be anywhere but here...

– – –

I no longer took rides from Sasuke to and from school. I no longer talked to anyone that heard me screaming that night. Hinata looked sad that I wouldn't talk to her, Naruto was pissed at Sasuke for not telling him what was wrong with me. TenTen was confused, her and Neji were not there that night, but I still didn't talk to them. I hid in my shell. I didn't want to come out.

Father's hits were becoming harder. He left bruises littering my pale skin every night. Kyoto asked me if I wanted to live with him, I refused saying that I was waiting for mom to come and get me. I wasn't going anywhere until then. I no longer talked about anything when Tsunade-sama called me into the office, I just sat in the chair staring at the wall or the floor.

I didn't talk to Gaara, either. He didn't seem to mind, but I often caught him staring at me. Our eyes locked for a few seconds, I refused to look away until he did. We stared at the other for five minutes strait once. I didn't ride with him on the bike any longer. I walked. I didn't go to the library with him. And I didn't talk.

My grades were dropping, but I could find the need to bring them back up. I couldn't find the will to even start any of my homework, or even do any of the tests.

School, it was now like jail to me. I was stuck here. Never able to go anywhere else without getting hurt. I walked as slow as I could home, dreading the beatings the were about to come when I walked into the house. It was like a routine for me now. Get up, walk to school, walk home, get beat, make dinner, hide in room, lay awake all night, then back to the beginning.

I was walking home. It was now spring time. The snow was almost all gone, the air was still a little chilly in the mornings, but warm enough to not want to carry around a heavy winter jacket. I stared at the empty driveway to my house, father wasn't home. For the first time in a long while, I smiled. I grabbed the mail and ran inside, calling out that I was home, no answer. I felt like I could fly. I was happy. Actually happy. I dropped the mail down on the kitchen table and went to the fridge, grabbing a apple and sinking my teeth into it. I was about to walk out of the room when something caught my eye. There was a letter with my name on it.

I picked it up and flipped it over, no return address. I frowned held my apple with my teeth, shoving my finger under the flap and pulling up.

_-Sakura._

_I'm sorry that it's been so long sense I last wrote to you, sweetheart. But, I've finally found a job! I'm saving up money to buy a plane ticket for you to come live with me. Sadly, the job doesn't have good pay, but it's more then I have been making. I'm working at a recycling center, I help sort all of the bottles and boxes. This is my first real job sense I met your father. I hope you are okay. You haven't wrote back to me at all. Not even sense I left. I love you. I really do, Sakura. And I'm SOO sorry that I had to leave you like I did. It really broke me. I'm doing all I can, and its all for you. _

_I've found a small one room apartment in the outskirts of the town I'm staying in. It will be cramped with two people living here, but I don't care, as long as you are with me. I can't tell you how much I miss you, Sakura. There isn't a day that goes by where I don't think about you. I want you to write back, telling me everything that's going on. I want to know how school is, if you and that Sasuke guy are still dating, how you and your brother are getting along, everything. I hate being so far from you. I miss you, sweetheart. We will be together again soon, I promise. _

_I love you._

_-Mom._

I stared at the letter as I slowly walked up to my room, still chewing on the green apple. My door clicked shut behind me. I didn't know what to think. It's been weeks sense I've heard from mom. And even longer sense I've talked to her. I wanted to call her, to hear her voice, but that wasn't aloud. I wasn't able to know where she was. I ripped a blank paper from my notebook and grabbed a pen, holding it over the paper trying to think of what I was going to say to her.

_-Mom._

_I'm glad that things are going good for you._

_Yes, Sasuke and I are together, but not for long. I'm going to break up with him. School sucks. Kyoto and I aren't talking. I miss you, too._

_I don't know what else to say._

_-Sakura._

I stared at my short letter for a few minutes thinking. I was going to break up with that bastard. I wasn't going to let him take avantage of me any longer. I was my own person. Not some fuck toy of his. I quickly wrote grandmothers address and sealed it in an envelope. I ran down the stairs and slid my feet into my shoes, grabbing all of my money on my way out. I had a letter to mail, and a store with my name on it. I was smirking as I left the house. Never again would I be helpless and weak. Never again will I let people push me around.

Never again.


	7. The New Me

**Hey guys! Sorry about that little wait, I just got back from my trip and typed this up quickly for you! It might be a little odd, considering I wrote it off the top of my head, but I hope you like it!! Let me know after you read it in a review please! I really like those!! lol!!**

Chapter 6, The New Me.

I had already put the letter in the mail box and was now standing in the mall, looking around for a store she wanted to try out. I saved all of my money for a long time now, so I had plenty for what ever I wanted to buy. A small store caught my attention, so I walked over to it and entered. A few weeks ago, I would have laughed in the face of who ever told me I would be looking at this store, let alone shopping in it.

The store had heavy metal playing. It's walls were painted black with a few black lights in the corners. All of the clothes looked really revealing or boyish. I would need help shopping here. I looked around the store before I was going to ask for help, to get an idea of what they had.

"Do you need some help?" I looked up to see a blond girl, maybe a few years older then me. She was chewing on some gum, and had a really short shirk with just a black tube top on. Her short blond hair was pulled back into four pony tails on the back of her head.

"Do you work here?" I asked, looking back at the skirts I was looking at before.

"Naw. But I might as well. This place is my second home." She gave a small laugh. I smiled at her. "Your Hanuro Sakura, right? The pretty girl that's dating that jock at school?"

"Yeah, that's me." I said with a small sigh.

"I didn't mean that in a bad way." She held her hands up in a calming jester. "It's just, you don't seem like the kind of person who would shop here."

"I'm not. I want to try something new." I gave her a small smirk and picked out a black skirt that had pink trim. "Should I?" I asked, tilting my head towards the changing rooms.

"You should. If you want, I could help you out. I know what would look perfect on you!" She smiled with joy, I smiled back and agreed. "I'm Temari by the way." She said when I came out with the skirt and a belly shirt she had given me on. "You look great! Here, try this!" She handed me more clothes to try on.

After spending a few hours in that store, Temari dragged me over to a make-up place and handed me a whole bunch of things that she would show me how to use. We went over to the food area and I bought us some pizza. I was glad to have made a new friend.

"Oh, great." Temari growled, looking somewhere over my shoulder. I glanced behind me to see a guy with a black sock hat wearing purple face paint smirking at us, he started walking over.

"Who is he?"

"That's Kankuro. My younger brother. No clue where baby brother is though. He was supposed to stay with Kankuro while I was shopping. I swear, that kid gets into so much trouble!" Temari sighed as Kankuro took a seat between us.

"Hey, Temari," He gave her a smile, then looked at me with a bigger grin. "Well, hello. Who do we have here?"

"Sakura, Kankuro. Kankuro, Sakura." Temari waved her hand at me and him as she said our names. "Little brother, new best friend." I smiled at her and gave Kankuro a small wave. "So, Sakura. Are you coming over for dinner or what?"

"Um... I don't think I can. My dads kinda strict." I looked down at my half gone soda with a small sigh. "But, I'll see if I can. Where do you live?" After I got her address and stuff, she insisted on giving me a ride home, saying her other little brother could get a ride of his own. She dropped me off and helped me bring in bags, just setting them by the door like I asked. Father was home.

She left with a small wave, saying to call her if I couldn't make it. I added her number to my cell phone. I quickly brought everything up to my room and locked the door. I could hear father snoring from his room down the hall. I took everything out and laid it all out on the bed, looking over all of the new things Temari helped me buy. I put everything into different groups. Skirts, shirts, make-up, shoes, jackets, things I would probably never wear, and things that I absolutely loved. I started putting it all away when something shiny caught my eye.

I turned towards my window and walked over to it, opening the big doors. There was a singer glass rose sitting on the balcony's rail. I picked it up with a small smile and turned it over in my hand. It was perfectly sculpted, the glass didn't have a single flaw in it. I slowly walked back into my room, pulling the doors shut behind me. There was a small piece of paper taped to the back.

_-Sakura_

_I hope you like it. See you at school._

_-Gaara_

My mouth fell open seeing who it was from. I looked back at the rose and sat down on my bed. Gaara had made me something. Made, or bought. Which one, I didn't know. He most likely bought it, I don't think he could have done this by himself. But then again, he was Gaara. Guilt started forming in the pit of my stomach, I felt horrible for treating how I did. He must have though I hated him. I jumped, like, ten feet in the air when my cell phone started ringing. I let out a small laugh and picked it up, caller ID said it was Temari.

"Hello?" I said with a small smile.

"Hey! Can you come over for dinner?" She asked. "I cleared it with my dad, he's going out of town, he just left. We have a whole week to do what ever we want."

"Um, I don't know." I stood from my bed and walked over to my door. "Hold on." I heard her say a quick reply before I moved the phone from my ear. From what I could see, and hear, father still wasn't awake. Maybe he would sleep through the night. "Temari? Uh, I think I can. When do you want me over?"

"Oh, I'll send my brother over to pick you up. The one we left at the mall. He has to be good for something, right?" She gave a small laugh then yelled up the stairs to someone, telling them to "Get their ass down stairs before she has to go up and drag them down". I giggled silently to myself. I just met her, and already I love her!

I hung up the phone and walked back over to my bed, looking over my new clothes again. I picked out a black Minnie skirt with a blood red tank top. There was a bleeding heart with a knife going through the hear on the shirt, and silver chains hanging out of the skirts pockets. Then, onto my new shoes collection. I was trying to decide between knee length black boots, and mid thigh black boots that had buckles going up the side. I chose the one with the buckles. I quickly grabbed my new camouflage bag and shoved all the contents of my purse in it. There was a loud revving sound from outside of my house.

I smiled and ran down the stairs, careful not to wake father up. I set his dinner out on the counter and ran for the door, grabbing my jacket and house keys to my house on the way out. I stopped dead in my tracks. The all to familiar black bike with a blood red Kanji sat in my driveway, an motionless driver staring back at me through his helmet. There was only one thing going through my mine, why is Gaara here? He slowly pulled off his black helmet and stared at me with his eyes wider then normal.

"Gaara!" I smiled and walked down to him. "What are you doing here?" I smiled and pushed some of my long pink hair from my face. He just stared at me with those wide eyes, like hes never seen me before. That's when I remembered my new look, the new me. "Oh! Do you like it?" I did a small spin. "I was shopping and found this girl, she helped me out. I'm actually waiting for her little brother to pick me up, I'm going over to their house for dinner." Gaara's eyes seemed to travel up and down my body, it gave me the shivers.

"Get on." He lightly shook his head and handed me his helmet.

"But-"

"Temari wont like it if we are late." He gave me a small smirk when my mouth dropped open.

"She's your older sister?!" He nodded, pushing the black helmet into my hands. I stared at him for a few more seconds, then down at the helmet, then down at my skirt, then finally, my eyes rested on the back of his bike. "Maybe I should go put some pants on..." I started to turn, remembering my first time on the back of his bike.

"No time." Gaara grabbed my arm and pulled me closer, he shoved the helmet over my head and pulled me towards the back of the bike. I hesitated, then slung my leg over the bike. My arms automatically wrapped around his waist and I leaned forward so that he could hear me over the engine.

"Don't go to fast! Or, I'll kick you-!" My voice was cut off into a scream as he revved and raced down the road, me almost flying off the back.

We got to his house within five-ten minutes. I was screaming the whole time, as he weaved in and out of cars and big trucks. I could feel him chuckling under my hands every time I let out a few colorful curses. I smacked his shoulder when he finally stopped. I got off as quickly as I could. I pulled off his helmet and pushed it in his hands rather roughly, all the while telling him how big of an ass he was.

"Don't do it again!" I finished by pushing his head backwards and turning around. During my little tantrum, Gaara had stood up off his bike and stood rather close to me. I stopped dead in my tracks at seeing where I was.

There, in front of me, was _the biggest_ house I have ever seen in my entire life. I felt my mouth drop and hit the pavement under my feet. Rose bushes traveled along the sides, and along each balcony's railing. I now looked around me, there was a huge lawn with a black metal gate framing from the road. The driveway wrapped around the white house, looking like it went under. I slowly turned to look back at Gaara, he was wearing the usual black shirt, black jeans, black and white skater shoes. They didn't match. Something didn't fit here. He never told me he was _rich_! And, to make matters better, he was smirking at me!

"Something wrong?" He asked in a mocking tone, walking past me towards the house. I followed on jelly legs.

"SAKURA!" I was tackled by a blond person, it took me a minute to realize that it was Temari, she was already pulling me along, talking about something. I looked behind me at Gaara, he wasn't there anymore. I glared at the spot where he had once been. "... And she was like 'Get out of my face, whore!' and then I was like, 'Oh, no, you just didn't'! Then, I decked her and walked off." Temari pulled me along the halls, I lost track of how many corners we turned. "... Sakura... are you listening to me?"

"Huh?" I looked up at her, away from the glass vase I had been looking at. Temari was standing next to a door with her arms crossed. "I'm sorry." I gave her a small smile and walked up to her, looking into the room. My mouth dropped open for the second time today.

It was, obviously, Temari's bedroom.

The walls were a soft pink, lighter then my hair, but they were covered with more band posters then I ever wanted to count. Her bed was covered in a black and yellow comforter, the pillows clad in the same yellow. CD's and pictures of random guys cluttered her floor. Her vanity was over flowing with different kinds of make-up, the mirror had pictures of Temari and her family on it. I walked up to it and leaned closer, they were mostly of Temari and Kankuro, only a few of Gaara, and when he was older, none when he was a small kid.

"Well? What do you think?" I turned back towards Temari, who was now sitting on her bed looking through a magazine.

"I like it." I smiled and went over to her bed, kicking off my shoes next to hers. "Much bigger then my room at home." I laid down next to her and grabbed one of the many magazines that was covering her bed. It had mostly guys in it with odd face paints and some looked like zombies. But, I liked the articles that was in it. They were... different to say the least.

"Temari?" I looked up at the door, just as her bother, Kankuro, came in. Temari didn't even glance at him.

"Mm?" She mumbled.

"You cooking tonight, or are we ordering?" He sat down next to me and gave me a small wink, I rolled my eyes and went back to reading.

"Cooking." She mumbled and turned the page. "I'll start it in a few."

"Temari... I think we should spare this one, and order." Kankuro looked at his sister with... scared?... or was he just scared about what she'd say?... eyes. Temari slowly looked up at him, a glare on her face. "You know how bad your cooking is!" He raised his hands and backed away.

"I can help you cook, Temari." I closed the magazine and pushed it away as I stood. "Show me to the kitchen!" I laughed and jumped off the bed, running away from the angry blond with Kankuro.

"Sakura? Hello? Sakura, you okay?" Kankuro was waving his hand in my face, he snapped his fingers and my eyes shot up to his face.

I looked back at the kitchen, it was bigger then Temari's room. I smiled and ran to the cupboards, looking to see what I had to work with. They were stocked to the fullest. "Think she likes to cook?" I heard Temari grumble, I ignored her and kept on with my search. This, was heaven to me.

"Okay, something easy." I mumbled when I saw the time. "Hmm..." I turned to face Temari and Kankuro who were still standing by the door. "How does cheese stuffed chicken with garlic potato's and some broccoli sound?"

"Sounds good!" Kankuro gave me the thumbs up and left the room, clapping Temari's shouldering on the way out.

"You really know how to make that?" Temari walked over to where I was putting raw chicken out with some cheese.

"Yeah. Mom taught me. She was the best cook ever. I can show you how to make some things if you want. It's pretty easy, all you do is follow some steps." I gave her a smile and we started.

"Kankuro! Go get Gaara for dinner!" Temari called as we brought the bowels of food out to the dining room.

"I'm busy!" He said from one side of the table. He was playing with some type of overly large doll thing. He didn't even look up from it.

"Where's his room? I'll go get him." I put the plate with chicken on the table and turned to look at Temari.

"Remember where my room is? It's the second door down from mine, the last door in the hall." She gave me a small smile as I left the room in search of the redhead.

The halls were endless. They twisted and turned all around, never showing any signs of stopping. Then, when I was about to give up, I was at a dead end. I knocked on the door to my right, it was empty, then the door on my left, it was also empty. I sighed and started back down the hall, I was now officially lost. I roamed the halls for what seemed like hours, but I knew it was only minutes. My fingers traced the walls as I walked, humming a tuneless song.

"What are you doing?" A deep voice from behind me made me jump, spinning around. I back against the wall holding where my heart was, trying to calm its beating.

"Gaara, you scared me!" I gasped out, finally looking up at him. He just stood there with his arms crossed over his chest, waiting for me to catch my breath. "I was searching for your room so that I could get to you, I think I took a wrong turn and got lost." I gave him a impish smile and pushed off the wall, standing in front of him. "So, here you are... but... I haven't found your room yet..." I gave him one more smile.

Gaara rolled his eyes and brushed past me, pushing open the door that I was about to pass. "I was in my room, but Temari said you had been gone to long. She said you were looking for me." Gaara motioned for me to enter. I walked in past him, only to stop dead in my tracks as I looked in. "This isn't my room..."

"No kidding..." My voice sounded like air, barely audible.

The room was made of glass, all of the walls, everything. There was a small patch of forest behind the house, the trees blowing lightly. I walked into the room and turned, looking up, taking in the full extent of the glass room. The ceiling was high, most likely the highest part in the house. The walls that face the rest of the house, they had glass on them, glass with color. The color was molded in odd shapes, twisting and turning. I walked up to it and ran my fingers along the different shades of pink, peach, green, and a pale cream color. The black metal that lined each color to its different spots seemed to hold it all together, to keep it from disappearing from the face of the earth, or shattering on the grey marble floor.

"What is it?" I whispered, slightly turning my head to face the redhead.

Gaara let out what could have been a cough, but it seemed like a small laugh. I smiled at him. "It's not something I can just 'tell' you. You have to see it yourself to know what it is. Come on, Temari will get mad if she has to wait much longer." I nodded and followed him from the room, a little bummed out. I took one last glance at the glass wall before shutting the door and following him down the hall.

"Where were you?!" Temari yelled as we came into the dinning hall.

"I kinda got lost..." I rubbed my arm and gave her a weak smile. "He found me." I jabbed my thumb at Gaara as I walked over and took a seat next to the blond.

"Weren't you going to find him?" Kankuro asked with a smirk.

"Ha ha, Kankuro." I gave him a play glare. "It's not my fault your house is so damn big!" I took a spoon full of the mashed potato's and flung it at him, it hit right between the eyes. Temari broke out laughing, Kankuro hurled more potato's, but directed at me.

I screamed and attempted to duck out of the way, but they smashed right into my hair. My mouth dropped open and I ran one of my hands in my hair, glaring at the face painted culprit the whole time. Temari was doubled over laughing, I took the potato's from my hair and chucked it at her. She gasped and looked at me in disbelief. I smirked and licked my finger, smacking my lips.

"YOU'RE DEAD!" She grabbed a hand full of the potato's from the bowel on the table and tossed it at me, I ducked and it hit Kankuro again.

We all started laughing, throwing food around. Then, oh then, I through some chicken at Kankuro, he ducked, and who happened to be standing behind him? Oh, none other then the redhead biker himself! The cheese exploded all of Gaara's face, the chicken sticking to him. All of us went silent, no one made a move, all trying to judge Gaara's reaction. The chicken slowly slid from his face, and Gaara's eyes flickered open, resting on me. I had to put my hand over my mouth to keep from laughing, the yellow cheese was all over his pale face.

"You look stupid, Gaara!" I finally let out, laughing. Temari and Kankuro gasped, staring at me with big eyes. I had to hold my side from the pain of a sprained rib I got a few nights ago.

Then, out of no where, there was chicken in my face. I wiped it off and stared wide eyed at a smirking Gaara. "So do you." He said, his smirk getting bigger as I grabbed a hand full of the potato's and hurled it at him.

Temari and Kankuro sat in the background watching me and Gaara have a small food fight. I couldn't tell what they were whispering about, but Temari was using her hands, pointing to me, then to Gaara, then moving her hands in the air, clamping them together. Kankuro just kept nodding with a scared look. I didn't pay to much attention to them, I was busy trying to get more food on Gaara, then he got on me. I haven't had so much fun in a long time. I was laughing, a real laugh, smiling, a real smile. I was happy.

"I'm going to wash this cheese out of my hair!" Temari called over my laughter. I nodded and ducked from some flying green beans. I saw Kankuro follow her out of the corner of my eye.

I let out a small scream when arms wrapped around my middle and pushed me against the table, spinning me to face Gaara's chest. My hands flew up to steady myself, grabbing a hold of the front of his shirt. I slowly looked up, Gaara was still smirking. A small amount of cheese was rolling down his cheek, I could help but giggle.

"What?" His smirk turned into a frown as he stared down at me. I lifted my hand and wiped the cheese from his cheek, licking it off my finger.

"I really am a good cook." I smiled at him widely. He rolled his eyes and leaned closer, putting both of his hands on the table behind me. Our faces were centimeters apart.

Gaara smirked again as he leaned closer, making me lean backwards to keep that distance. "Sakura... are you afraid of me?" His voice was serious, he didn't look me in the eye.

I didn't answer, just stared at him. His face was tilted down, so that his eyes wouldn't meet mine. I reached up with a shaky hand and lifted his face, slowly leaning forward until our lips brushed. "I have no reason to be scared of you." Another brush. "You've never hurt me." I whispered. One of his hands moved to my lower back, pushing me a little closer. I slightly tilted my head as I kissed him fully. He seemed to stiffen for a small second, but relaxed and kissed back.

His hands traveled up my sides, then back down. I pushed my hands through his blood red hair, gently pulling on it. I was suddenly lifted in the air, being seated on the table that I had been leaning on. I gasped into Gaara's mouth, instantly pulling away, and pushing him away. I shook my head as I tried to get off the table, my hands still on his chest, weakly pushing him.

"Sakura." He grabbed both of my hands and waited until I looked at him. "I wont hurt you." He whispered. "You are the only person that I will never hurt. Why do you push me away?"

"I-I-I can't..." Was all that came out. Memories of Sasuke pinning me down and hurting me flashed in my mind, I couldn't have that happen again, I couldn't deal with the pain from it happening with Gaara. I could feel the tears starting to come, I turned my face away as one slipped.

"Sakura, who hurt you?" His voice was deep. Angry. His his hand grabbed my chin, not hard, but enough, and turned me to face him. "Who?" He wiped the tear away as he stared deep into my eyes. I feared for whoever had or will piss this guy off. He isn't even mad at me, and I can feel a little bit of fear twisting in the pit of my stomach.

"No." I said, looking down, then back up. "I'm not going to tell you, Gaara." My voice was a small whisper, but was strong. "I'm dealing with it myself."

He just stared at me, a small scowl creasing his forehead.

"Show me the room again." I gave him a small smile, even if it was fake, it seemed to make some of the anger go away. He nodded and backed away from me, letting me jump down from the table. I had to try my hardest not to wince from the pain in my rib.

**So? What'd you think??? lol. Well, the next chapter might be up tomorrow, maybe not. Depends on when I get done it, and when I'm aloud internet, mom's been kinda mad lately, grounding me and stuff. Oh well, I'll get it up as soon as I can!! Love yahs all!**


	8. I Am Yours No Longer

Chapter 7, I Am Yours No Longer.

I walked out the door of my house, ready for my long walk to school. I had put on some of my new clothes, a red and black plaid school girls skirt, with a red tank top, that had a skull on the front. My mid thigh long black boots clicked as I walked down small path that lead to the driveway, pulling on my black jacket that had the Roxy symbol all over it in green, blue, and pink. A small smile was on my lips, I knew Temari was going to be waiting for me when I got there, she promised when I left her house those few nights ago. It was Monday, and I'm ready.

My feet were light against the pavement as I walked out of my yard, and onto the road. There was never anyone up this early, so I walked down the middle of the road, bobbing my head with a song that was coming from the I-pod Temari made me buy when I went shopping. The song "Let it Rock" Blasted in my ears as I sung along under my breath. I shifted my backpacks weight and glanced behind me, only to fall backwards with a small scream. I ripped the ear buds from my head.

"Gaara!" I gasped, clutching my shirt where my heart was. "What the hell?!"

Gaara sat on his bike not even two feet behind her, just rolling along. He had stopped when she fell, and was now smirking down at her. "You shouldn't be walking in the road, Sakura. And when you can't hear cars approaching. You could get hit." He smirked.

"Well, you shouldn't sneak up on me like that!" I pushed myself off the ground and brushed my skirt off, still glaring at the redhead.

"If you would have been listening, you would have clearly heard my bike." He leaned forward on his handle bars as he stared at me. "It's loud enough."

"You're a jerk, you know that?" I gave him a mock smile and started walking away, grabbing my I-pod off the pavement on my way. I could hear Gaara get off his bike and start pushing it after me.

"Sakura, you're going to be late. Do you want a ride?" I stopped and turned towards him.

"Aw! Is Gaara, the big mean bad boy, trying to be nice to me?!" I clapped my hands together and went, "Aw! How cute!" Then, walked away.

"No funny, Sakura. Come on, we're going to be late." Gaara started his bike up, and when I turned around he was holding out his helmet to me. I sighed and shoved my I-pod in my bag, tightly strapping it to my back. I took the helmet and shoved it down on my head, pushing my hair up under the rim. I slung my leg over his bike, and wrapped my arms around him, nodding to him, telling him I was ready. He took off like a bullet, me yelping in surprise, my arms squeezing him tighter.

The parking lot was crowded with people, everyone whispering and staring as we slowly passed. People seemed to make a path as we drove in, I could feel Gaara stiffen under my arms. I looked over his shoulder to see where we were going, there was one open spot, right next to Sasuke's black car, where he stood staring at us. I was now glad that I had hid my pink hair, they would never know who I was, and I was glad about that. My hands moved to his sides, we were going slow enough so that I wouldn't fall. Gaara came to a full stop, five-ten feet from where Sasuke stood. I could see Sasuke's eyes glaring at something near me, I could only guess that Gaara was glaring back from the stiffness of his back.

"Nothing stupid." I whispered to him and gave him a little squeeze as I stood and slowly slung my leg off the bike, letting my jacket fall off my shoulders and hand around my arms. This was the perfect time. I kept my eyes on Sasuke, he was now looking at me with a raised eyebrow, looking me up and down. A smirk came to his lips when I started walking over, but Gaara's hand lashed out and grabbed my wrist.

"Don't..." He warned, still glaring at Sasuke. I put my hand over his and squeezed his hand, pulling it from my wrist. He glanced up at me, I swear he could see my soft smile because the stiffness seemed to lighten, but he turned to glare back at the new smirking Sasuke.

I let my hand travel over Gaara's cheek as I passed him, his head tilted into my hand, it only made my smirk bigger. When I was a few feet from Sasuke, I reached up for the helmet and slowly pulled it from my head, not stopping my slow approach. I shook out my long pink hair and smirked at Sasuke, who was now glaring from me to Gaara and back. I smiled at him sweetly and walked over, putting my hand on his chest, as I leaned in closer.

"I am yours no longer." I said loud enough for those around him to hear. The boys made a sound and started repeating what I said to people who hadn't heard me. "Good-bye, Uchiha Sasuke." I pushed away from him and walked back over to where Gaara was getting off of his bike, swinging my hips from side to side just to piss him off even more. I handed Gaara his helmet and grabbed his free hand, pulling him towards the school.

Gaara looked shocked and confused at the same time, it was barely visible, but it was there. The crowd of people that had grown made a path for us as we walked through, all of them whispering. I leaned closer to Gaara and smiled, lacing my fingers with his. He looked down at me with a blank face, I just smiled at him and pulled him into the school.

News spreads fast in this school. By the time we made it to the cafeteria, everyone knew what I had said, and everyone already assumed Gaara and I were dating and that I had gone behind Sasuke's back while dating. Even if I did, its not like I was the only one. I walked over to my old friends, Gaara following along by the hand. I waved to all of my friends, they just stared with wide eyes and open mouths.

"Hey guys!" I said when I reached them.

"S-S-Sakura..." Ino looked from me to Gaara then back at me. "Can I t-talk to you?"

"Sure." I let my hand slip from Gaara's as I followed her, I could feel Gaara's eyes on my back. "What's wrong?" I asked when we were a safe distance away from everyone else.

"Two things. One, what the hell are you wearing?!" She pulled the edge of my skirt with a disgusted expression. "This isn't you at all."

"Actually, it is. And, I happen to like it." I shrugged and glanced over her shoulder, Gaara was shifting from foot to foot, staring at all of my friends. I smiled and looked back at Ino, Gaara was so cute when he was nervous... wait... what did I just think?!

"Okay... Two, why the hell are you dating Sabaku no Gaara?!" She said in a angry whisper, throwing a glance over her shoulder at the redhead.

"I never said we were dating." There was a small smirk in my voice, but nothing on my face. "I don't know what you mean."

"Oh, come on, Sakura!" Ino glared at me. "You rode to school with him today, then you were holding hands when you got here!"

"You and I hold hands all the time."

"You know damn well that's different!"

"How? You and I are friends, and me and Gaara are friends."

Ino glared at me for a few seconds before she was able to answer. "Well, why haven't you been talking to us lately? I miss you Sakura."

I smiled, all anger vanished from both of us. "I miss you too, Ino." We hugged. "I've just been a little busy with things that I haven't had time to think of other things. I'm sorry, I really am."

"It's okay, as long as you don't do it again." She smiled and we linked arms, walking back. "So, are you guys really fucking?" She whispered to me.

"INO!" I laughed, giving her a play hit. She laughed and we both took a seat, Gaara stood behind me, looking slightly more comfortable. "Hey," I looked up to see Gaara looking down at me. "where's Temari? She said that she was going to meet me here." Gaara just shrugged and looked away from me. I smiled and looked back at my friends. Hinata was sitting next to Naruto, her fingers laced with his. They were both smiling at me. I gave them an odd look and turned towards TenTen. "Hey."

"Hey." She smiled back at me.

We all caught up with each other while we were waiting for school to start. Neji and TenTen were now officially dating, Neji blushed when I giggled about it with Ino. Hinata had gotten over her slight stuttering problem that she's had sense she was a child, it had gotten better over the years, but now it was fully gone, and all thanks to her goofy yellow haired boyfriend. Everyone seemed to really enjoy having me back, I was happy to be back, too. I didn't realize until now how much I had missed everyone. Missed having girl talk with Ino and Hinata, missed how fun it was to make TenTen and Neji blush at the same time, but most of all, I missed the way everyone acted, how they smiled and laughed, how they just seemed... happy. All out happy.

My classes were now different, people talked to me more, especially the guys. They hung around my desk until the teacher barked at them to take their seats. The girls glared at me more, whispering behind my back. The only thing that was the same, was Gaara. He was the only one that hadn't changed. Even my friends acted different, they kept glancing at me, and when I'd catch their eye, they'd quickly turn away as if they had just committed murder or something.

I ate lunch outside with Gaara today, like I used to. But, of course, he had to have his smoke, I looked at him funny until he reacted, glaring back at me.

"What?" He growled, blowing out a ring of smoke in my face, smirking when I coughed and blew the air away with my hand.

"How can you do that?" I asked, motioning to him sucking on the cigarette. "Doesn't it hurt your throat?"

"No." He smirked, handing me the smoking stick. I looked at it for a few seconds before hesitantly taking it, turning it over looking at it. "What are you doing?" He asked, humor evident in his voice.

"It wont kill me will it?" I asked, looking back up. He was smirking. "Oh ha ha. That's not what I ment. The first time, it wont, right?"

"No." He watched as I slowly lifted the cigarette to my lips and sucked in, coughing immediately. I handed back the horrid thing and continued coughing. The smoke burned my throat, it felt like it was on fire. "Breathe, Sakura. It will go away." His hand rubbed my back as I continued to cough, it felt like my lungs would come right up my throat. The coughs slowly started dying down, and I looked up at him.

"I thought you said it wouldn't kill me!" I got out before coughing once more.

"You're still here, aren't you?" He joked, brushing some of my pink hair over my shoulder. "You okay?" He whispered, his fingers skimming my cheek. "You face is all red."

I quickly turned my face away from him to try and hide the blush that was spread on my face. "Well, if you were trying to cough up your lungs, your face would be red, too." I grumbled, looking at him from the corner of my eye, a smirk in place.

"Yeah, yeah." He waved me off and took a drag of the cigarette. I rolled my eyes. He made everything look easy.

"Let me have it." I reached for the cigarette that was still in his mouth, he leaned back so that I couldn't have it. "Gaara..." I warned, stretching my hand out, wiggling my fingers for it. He raised his eyebrow and looked at me mockingly. I glared and lunged at him. He gasped in surprise as I jumped on him, making us both fall backwards. I landed on top of him, my hands on his chest. I grabbed for the cigarette and put it near my mouth, taking a smaller drag then I had before, holding it in for a few seconds before letting it out. I gave one cough before I looked down at the smirking Gaara. "What?" I asked, holding the stick between my two fingers as I put my hand back down on his chest. Gaara propped himself up on his hands, making us both sit up.

"Nothing." He said before leaning closer and lightly kissing me. My eyes fluttered shut as I leaned into him, kissing him back.

"Sakura?!" A yell came from down on the field. It was faint, who ever it was, was probably just coming onto the field. I pulled back from Gaara slightly, my breathing a little harder then it had been. I stared up into his jade eyes and kissed his lips one last time before I put the cigarette between his lips and standing up. Ino was waving at me from down on the other side of the field. I waved back.

"I'll see you later." I said, giving him one last smile before I grabbed my bag and ran down the bleachers towards my blond friend. "Hey, Ino!" I waved to her when I got down to the field. I started walking across when I saw her freeze, looking up behind me, then down at me, and back. I stopped walking and slowly turned, and there he was, following after me. And smirking the whole way. I glared and started my walk across the field, him right behind me.

"What are you doing with him?" Ino whispered when I reached her. We linked arms and started walking away, the never ending redhead following closely behind us.

"We had lunch together." I shrugged, glancing at him over my shoulder. I was glad that he had put out the cigarette before Ino saw it. That wouldn't end well. "Why did you want me?"

"Well I wanted to talk to you about something..." She glanced over her shoulder at Gaara. "privately."

I looked back at Gaara to, we stopped walking. Gaara walked up to me and stood right in front of me, Ino let go of my arm and took a few steps away from Gaara. "I'll wait for you after school. Don't be late." He smirked and leaned down, so that he could whisper in my ear. "You're coming back to my house, migoto." Then he kissed my neck lightly, so that only I would know it happened, and he left (migoto means Beautiful). I stared after him as he walked off, my eyes wide.

"Um, okay. Y-you can talk t-to me now." I gave Ino a shaky smile when I turned to her, she was looking at me with a raised eyebrow. "What is it?"

Ino went instantly shy. A small blush spreading on her cheeks. "Well, theres this new guy that I met..." She trailed off and a smile came to her lips. "It's him. That guy over by the tree!" She whispered, nodding towards my right. I slowly turned to see a guy with a black sock hat smirking at us. My mouth dropped when I realized who it was, the face paint was recognizable anywhere.

"Kankuro?" I asked, looking back at Ino. Her face turned blank.

"You know him?"

**GASP!!! Is it really Kankuro Ino likes? Or is it someone standing behind the puppet boy?!?!?!?!?!??!?!? **


	9. How Did We Get Here?

**Alright, I have a WARNING!!! BEFORE YOU READ THIS CHAPTER, READ THE WARNING!!**

**WARNING: There IS a LEMON is THIS CHAPTER!!! I don't want to hear (read) anything about me not telling you before hand! If you do not want to read the lemon, skip the part of the lemon and wait until I update next. The lemon is at the end, I will warn you before it starts. Thank you for understanding. **

**Chapter 8, How did we get here?**

How we got here, I don't know. We were just talking, smiling and laughing together. It was just a small kiss...

His hands traveled up my sides, under my shirt. I ran my nails down his already bare back, deepening the kiss. He lifted me up, I wrapped my legs around his waist as he pushed me against the glass. It was cold against my skin when he pulled my shirt over my head and tossed it somewhere behind him.

I just smiled against his lips and pulled him closer to me with my legs, my hands digging in his hair. Gaara's mouth left mine, traveling down my neck. He fumbled with my bra clips. I started giggling when he growled and pulled me away from the glass, walking over to the bed and laid me down. He crawled on top of me and easily reached behind me, un clipping the clasp. My bra was somewhere on the floor within seconds. I gasped when he took my perk nipple into his hot mouth...

– – –

I was still dazed by what Ino had told me... Kankuro... who would have thought?

I was walking down the hall to my locker to get my books for homework. The bell ending school had rung moments before, teenagers were crowding the halls still. People moved from my way as I walked down the hall, my head high, and a smile on my lips. The only sound I could hear, other then the people's low whispers, was the sound of my clicking heals, I loved the sound.

I had met up with Temari after talking with Ino. It was hard not to slip and tell her that my best friend has a crush on her brother. It was so hard not to laugh at Ino, or start laughing when I saw Kankuro in the hall later. It was all to funny. Gaara had asked me about it a few times, I would just laugh and, either, walk off, or wave it off. He stared at me questioningly every time I saw him in the hall, but I just smile and and shook my head, silently telling him that I wasn't going to tell him. Temari and I had a good laugh together, I noticed people kept away from her more then they did me. I loved not having to walk between people in the hall, like I always had to with Sasuke. The Sabaku's seemed more popular then Sasuke, I didn't know if that was good or bad. I had missed a lot while I was swallowed up in self pity.

I shoved my math book into my locker and took out my history, our book was due next week, I found out today. Gaara and I had barely started it. A packet of papers was shoved in front of me, I gasped, taking a few steps back, right into someones chest. I looked up to meet amused jade eyes.

"Did I scare you?" He whispered, leaning his head down towards mine. I quickly glanced around us, we were the only ones in the hall. I smiled and nodded, letting him give me a quick kiss.

"What's this?" I took the papers from him and flipped the cover page back, skimming the first neatly typed page. I gaped when I realized what it was. "You... you did this without me?" I asked, turning to face him. I didn't know weather to be happy, sad, or angry.

"I told you it was taken care of." He smirked, taking the paper and putting it in my locker. "Let's go. There's something I want to show you before we go to the house." He took my book from me and started walking down the hall, I slammed my locker shut and caught up with him.

"I can't tonight. I need to stay home, I'm sorry." I looked down at my feet as we walked.

"Why?"

"'Cause dad doesn't want me to go out." I whispered. In truth, when I got home from his house last night, father had been incredibly mad. I unconsciously wrapped my arms around my stomach, where a large purple bruise covered my pale skin. "I need to go home." We walked the rest of the way to his bike without talking.

Gaara no longer made me wear the helmet, I refused to wear it. He had it strapped to the bike right behind me. I was the first one on the bike this time, I smiled and held out my hand like he usually did for me. He just rolled his eyes and tossed his leg over my head as he got on. I laughed and slid forward so that I was right up against him. I felt him let out a small sigh and lean back into me a little.

"When did you ever let me so close?" I whispered into his ear. "A few weeks ago, I couldn't even touch you..." I ran my hands up his chest, and back down, pushing him back into me.

"When did you work your way under my skin?" He whispered back, turning his head so that he could see me. "A few weeks ago, and I wouldn't let you touch me." He smirked and kissed me. "A few weeks ago, and I would have killed you for making me like this."

"A few weeks ago, and I would have kicked your ass." I smirked. He snorted. "And, a few weeks ago, you were a as cold as a block of ice. Now, you're all warm and lovable, mostly, you're soft and squishy."

"Squishy?" He asked, fully turning his torso so that he was facing me. "I'm squishy?" He raise an eyebrow at me.

I smiled widely and nodded, pinching his cheek. "Yup. Yous all squishy!" I giggled and kissed his forehead, brushing back his blood red hair. "When did you get this?" I asked, my fingers tracing the small patch on his head. I carefully pulled the medical tape away to show his scar. It had been cut open recently, a small amount of dried blood clung to his skin. "What happened?" I traced it with my finger, he barely flinched.

"Nothing. Let's go." He turned away from me and pushed the bandage back in place, starting his bike up. I wrapped my arms tightly around him and kissed his neck as we took off.

Gaara dropped me at my house and left before I could even say bye. I frowned and walked up to my house, going in.

Father hit harder tonight, he found a letter from mom to me. As he hit me, he yelled about me being in on it, and helping her get away. He left me in the living room, bleeding and crying with a ball of paper thrown at my head. I woke up in early morning, barely able to move. I grabbed the paper and un-crumpled it, what could have made father so mad?

_-Sakura._

_I wish you would write more then a few words like that, sweetheart, I really do miss you._

_So you're breaking up with Sasuke? Why? What happened? Is there another guy? _

_Oh! I almost forgot! I met this guy! We've been talking for a few weeks, I really like him. We've been going on dates for a few days, I see him every day. It's really sweet. Yesterday, he bought me some chocolates and took me out of a boat for dinner. It was so sweet. I'll try sending you a picture of him, I'm sure you'll like him. He's a really nice guy. Kyoto's already talked to him a few times, he loves him already! I know you two aren't talking, but he really misses you too, Sakura. I can hear it in his voice, please call him some time, sweetheart._

_I have almost enough money saved up to buy you a plane ticket, we'll be together again soon, sweetheart, I promise. I love you._

_-Mom._

I clutched to the paper as I stood up, limping my way to the door. I didn't have any shoes, or a jacket. Just my skirt and my torn shirt. I stumbled my way down the road, one thought in my mind.

_Gaara..._

I needed him. Father knew. He knows about mom sending for me, he knows about brother helping her. I need help. He's going to find Kyoto and force information out of him, I need help to stop it. I need a phone, I need something! My feet slipped and I fell to the cold pavement. I cried out when I hit, the pain was worse then it had ever been. I could hear a car coming, but I couldn't move. My arms and legs hurt to much.

The car came speeding around the corner, only to screech to a stop when the driver caught sight of me lying in the road. The music was blasting in the car, I could feel it vibrating through the pavement. I could barely open my eyes when some one got out, I faintly hear my name called.

Two people ran over to me, one blond, another had some sort of hat on. I was flipped over, I could now see the stars.

"Sakura?!" Someone's hand ran over my cheek, I looked to my left to see Temari, Kankuro was on my right. I moaned in pain when she touched my leg, I could feel the hot blood running over my skin. "Kankuro, pick her up." Temari ordered, standing herself. Arms pulled me into a chest, lifting me from the cold ground. My head fell against Kankuro's shoulder, I stared up into his face. There was worry creasing it. He glanced down at me, there was more worry in his eyes. I had to look away. I closed my eyes.

"Gaara! Gaara! Gaara, get your ass out here!" I was woke up by Temari's shout. I was lifted from whatever I had been lying on, pulled back into Kankuro's arms. "Gaara!"

"What?" A calm voice called, after a door was opened. Then, I heard running footsteps, the sound of someone jumping down a flight of stairs. "What happened?" Gaara's voice was closer, right next to me. He sounded like he was the one who had just ran over here. "Sakura?" I was pulled into a different set of arms, the pain shot through my body, making me cry out. "It's alright, you're safe." He whispered in my ear, he was walking, I could feel the thumps of his feet from under me.

I could still feel the paper clutched in my hand, I forced myself to drop it. I didn't want it anymore. I couldn't read the words again. Instead, I settled for grabbing hold of the hair on the back of Gaara's head, and pulling my face to his neck as the tears fell. I was being put down on something soft, but I didn't let go of Gaara, and he couldn't stand up because of it. I was picked up again, only to be set on his lap as he sat down.

"Temari, get the first aid kit." He whispered.

I heard Temari's footsteps leaving, she whispered something, but I could barely make it out. It sounded like, "I'm glad father isn't home tonight..." then she was gone.

"Kankuro, the knife." I felt Gaara motion to the right his his head, his hands were gently massaging my back and sides, I winced every here and there, his hands got softer. One of Gaara's hands left me, I pulled him closer when he pulled up the end of my shirt, cutting it with the blade. "It's okay." He whispered when I tried to move away from the blade. "I wont hurt you, I promise." He kissed my shoulder and continued cutting my shirt, I heard Temari come back in.

"Here." She whispered, putting something down on the bed next to Gaara.

"Sakura, I need you to sit up. Can you do that?" Gaara whispered to me, gently moving me so that he could see my face. I shakily nodded and moved to sit up on my own, but hissed in pain and started falling, Gaara caught me and pulled me back against him. "Temari, hold her up." Hands were put on my sides, gently holding me as Gaara's arms left me. I was still on his lap, so he was there, and I could feel the pulling of my shirt as he cut it. My shirt was off in a few seconds, I heard Temari gasp.

"Not all of these are new, Gaara..." She whispered.

"I know." He said back, I could hear the anger in his voice. Next to go was my skirt. "Kankuro, the kit." He hissed. I heard steps then the opening of a metal box. Gaara's hands rubbed up and down my back, some type of cloth over his hands. My back arched when he hit one spot, a spot that had been hurting for weeks. "I need to open this up. The blood under her skin is decaying the tissue. Sakura, this is going to hurt." Gaara whispered before sticking the knife into my skin. My back arched away from the pain, a silent scream marring my face. "I'm sorry." He whispered, just loud enough for me to hear. I felt a bunch of blood pour from my back, all of it running down my bruised skin. "Get the needle threaded." Gaara whispered to Kankuro, still digging out all of the rotted flesh.

I don't remember blacking out. It might have been when Gaara started stitching me back up, I only know it was when I was still sitting in his lap. I remember the pain, the blood that had been trickling down my body. I remember looking into Temari's sad eyes, they reflected my face, I remember seeing the pain on my face through her eyes. Then, I remember falling forward, I remember my name being shouted, and someone catching me. Then, nothing. There was nothing after that.

All I know now, is that I'm warm. And on something soft. There was a faint light, I could tell because my eyes were barely open. It wasn't enough to be called open, but I could see the light on my left. It looked like it was coming from a covered window. The rest was black, with a few other colors here and there. Everything was blurry, all morphed together. I let out a shaky sigh as I tried to open my eyes more, there was a shift in the blur. Something was moving towards me. I turned my head towards it as I open my eyes, I caught a glimpse of red and while before my eyes had closed once more.

"Sakura?" A faint voice asked. Something brushed against my cheek, I tried to open my eyes again, they did a little.

"G-Gaara?" I whispered, staring up into his eyes. Gaara nodded, his pale skin white in the dark. That explains the white and red I saw a few moments ago. I smiled, and reached up with my hand, brushing it across his face. "Thank you." I whispered, letting my eyes fall shut again. I felt Gaara move onto, what I'm guessing, the bed next to me. I weakly reached for him, his hands found mine and pulled them to his face, gently kissing each of my fingers. "Y-you know... a-a few weeks ago..." I whispered. "you wouldn't have touched me." I smiled without opening my eyes to look at him.

"A few weeks ago, and you wouldn't have been sleeping in my bed." He whispered with a small amount of humor in his voice. I smiled and reached up with my hand, brushing it against his cheek, tracing his lips with my finger. He chuckled, his hand touching my stomach under the blankets, over my side, and gently pulling me closer. "A few weeks ago, and you wouldn't have been looking at someone like me." He whispered, his breath rolling along the skin of my neck.

My smile got wider as I reopened my eyes, his right there. "A few weeks ago, and I wouldn't have given you a single thought."

"A few weeks ago, and I would have hated you for everything that you have." He whispered, leaning closer to me. "A few weeks ago, a girl looked at me, and stirred up feelings I haven't felt in a long time."

"A few weeks ago, a man saved me from a secret hell." I whispered, closing my eyes once more as our lips touched. "A few hours ago, this man saved my life all over again." I whispered, kissing him a little harder.

"A few hours ago, that girl almost gave me a damn heart attack." He grumbled, pulling away to stare into my eyes. "Sakura, what happened?" He whispered, a small scowl on his face.

I lifted my hand to his face and rubbed his cheek. "Nothing happened." I whispered, closing my eyes and tilting my head away from him.

"That wasn't nothing, Sakura. It looked like you had been hit by a fucking bus." Gaara propped himself up on his elbow and stared down at me, I refused to meet his eyes. "Is that what happened? Were you hit by a car?"

"No, Gaara, no." I turned to look at him. "Look, I just don't want to talk about it right now... okay?" I stared up at him with pleading eyes. I didn't want to think about what happened, I always tried to avoid it. I stared at him with my pleading eyes until he had to look away with an angry sigh. "Please, Gaara?" He looked back at me for a few seconds. "Please?" I whispered, running my hand along his face, my eyes were getting heavy again.

"Go to sleep." He whispered, bending down to kiss my forehead. "We'll talk about it when you wake." He moved down to kiss my lips.

"Okay..." I breathed against his lips, kissing him a little harder. He pulled away and rested his head on the pillow next to mine. I turned my head so that I was facing him, and moved to lay on my side, he helped me a little. I rested my forehead against his and put my arm over his neck, fisting my hand in his hair. "Will you be here when I wake up?" I asked in a small whisper, my eyes closing on their own account.

"I wont leave." He whispered back.

"Promise?"

"Promise..." The last thing I felt was his soft lips gently pushed against mine.

– – –

I spent the next few days at Gaara's house, we both stayed home from school, him helping me around because I wasn't "Healthy enough to walk" says Gaara. He insisted on carrying me everywhere, it was fun for awhile, but got dull real soon.

My bruises starting to heal over the few days, with the amount of pain killers I took, I didn't feel any pain. I slept most of the time, with Gaara buy my side encase I woke up from a nightmare, which I always did. He was always there to calm me down, to tell me everything would be alright. It seemed very un-Gaara like, but it was him say it to me, it was his face, and his voice.

By the time it was Friday, he said I was okay to walk and do things without any help. I rolled my eyes and walked off. Temari checked my bandages everyday when she got home from school, Gaara checked them when I woke up and went to bed. I spent all of my time with Gaara, but not once had we gone back to the room with glass. I've asked him about it a few times, but he always switched the subject to me, and what happened.

Today is Saturday. Kankuro and Temari went shopping, who knows where or when they'll be back. Gaara said they can be gone for days at a time. I thought that was kinda scary, I wouldn't want to have that much alone time with either of them. Don't get me wrong, I love Temari, but, you can get sick of a person after being cooped up with them for a few days. She can get a little bossy. I was really glad that Gaara was there to stop her when I couldn't. She was a little over protective.

"How's your ribs?" Gaara asked as I was getting a glass of water. I turned to face him as I sipped the cool liquid.

"Their good. Doesn't hurt anymore, and look," I lifted my shirt up. "the bruise is almost gone." I lightly traced the faint blue and yellow mark with my fingers. "It feels a lot better." I looked up at him with a small smile.

"That's good." He said walking over to me. "Let me see..." He bent down in front of me and lifted my shirt, tracing the marks with his fingers. I stared down at him with a smile, he was so cute when he was worried about me. The thought of Gaara, Sabaku no Gaara, being worried about someone like me made me giggle, and his tickling fingers didn't help any. He looked up at me with a smirk. "I want to show you something... Come on." He grabbed my hand as he stood, pulling me along with him.

We walked along the many halls, until he stopped at one of the doors, looking back at me.

"Close your eyes." He whispered, pulling my close so that he could put one arm around me, the other over my eyes. I smiled and put my hands on his that was around my waist, I leaned back into his chest. I heard the door open, slightly wondering how, then Gaara started pushing me forward into the room. I giggled and put my hands on the back of his head, to make sure he didn't leave me in some place that I didn't want to be. He let out a low chuckle in my ear when I tightened my hold on him. "I'm not going anywhere, Sakura. I want to see your face..." He moved from me, to stand in front of me. "Don't open your eyes yet." He warned as he took his hand from my face. I heard him move a few feet from me, I walked towards him and reached for his hands. "Okay, open them..." He whispered.

I slowly opened my eyes, only to shut them and count to ten to make sure it was real. When I established that it was, I gasped and looked up, turning to take in the full view of the glass room.

It was different from what I remember. The ceiling was covered with blue glass, with little clear spots on it. The sides turned into a orange red pink color, then just kept changing as they came down to the ground. I faced the wall that I had been thinking about sense I first saw it. It was the same, but more was added to the top, making the picture whole. I still couldn't see what it was, it was still just a bunch of colors put together with the black metal. I turned back around, looking at the pure glass wall that now had some color in it, flowers decorated all through it. Many different flowers rolled through the glass, twisting with their vines, and the other flowers.

"It's beautiful..." I whispered, still turning around, I stopped when I finally saw the bed and a nightstand. I turned back to Gaara and tilted my head to the side, pointing my thumb in the direction of the bed.

"You can always stay here." He whispered, walking over to me and kissing my forehead. "This is your room, Sakura." I looked up at him with big eyes. "You are always welcome here." I smiled and brushed some of his blood red hair from his face, tracing my fingers of his scar.

"Thank you." I whispered, standing on my tippy toes to kiss his lips.

-- -- --

**_(LEMON STARTS!! DONT READ IF YOU DONT WANT TO! It lasts all the way to the end of the chapter, so this is where some of you may stop. Feel free to still review.)_**

Oh, so that's how it started. It makes sense now. How we got here.

I gasped, all thoughts flying out my ears when he switched to my other nipple. It felt so good, it felt right. My hands pulled on his blood red hair, my fingers kneading in it. I could feel him smirking against my skin when my back started arching into him. I pulled his mouth back to mine, wrapping my legs around his waist, pulling him closer to me. He gently bit down on my lip, I moaned and opened to let him in.

Gaara's hands traveled down my body, resting where my pants were still around my lower body. I lifted my hips up into him as he started tugging them off, unwrapping my legs in the proses. His mouth left mine and went to my neck as he hooked his fingers in my lace panties, sliding those down as well. I gasped when his fingers rubbed me, teasing. Then, his finger was in me, pumping in and out, followed by another. Gaara bit down on my neck, making me moan, I felt him smirk. My hands traveled down his back, stopping at the rim of his pants, I tried to pull them down, but his belt wouldn't allow it. I reached for the front of his pants, one of Gaara's hands appeared to help me. They were off and tossed away.

The feeling of his skin against mine was amazing. Addicting. I needed more.

My fingers wrapped around him, pulling it closer to my core, where his fingers had left seconds before. He propped himself up on his elbows and stared down at me with calculating eyes.

"Are you sure?" He whispered, kissing my jaw.

"Never been more sure in my life." I said a little breathless.

He nodded and started pushing in, slowly so that he didn't hurt me. It still hurt, but not as much as the first time with Sasuke. Gaara was bigger, that was for sure, but I trusted Gaara, I knew he wouldn't hurt me on purpose. My nails dug into the skin on his back, I gasped when he was fully in, it hurt. He didn't move until I opened my eyes, and even then he didn't, he just stared down at me with worried eyes. I wiggled under him, testing his size.

"You can move..." I whispered, reaching up to kiss him. He hesitantly kissed me back, starting to pull out. I kissed him while he pulled out and pushed back in, still really slowly. "Gaara..." I whispered against his lips, he smirked and went a little faster, and a little harder. I moaned under him.

It was mind blowing, the way he pounded into me. I never thought it would feel this good, never in my life would I have ever expected this. Our bodys rocked together, molding as one. Moans and gasps filled the glass room, small grunts coming from Gaara. I couldn't think anything, it left as soon as it came. The only thing that was in my mind was Gaara. Gaara, Gaara, Gaara. That's it. And, I loved it. All I could think about was him, the way his skin felt on mine, the way out bodys molded together, and the way they rocked.

With a final gasp and moan I came, followed by Gaara a few seconds later. He still pumped in and out of me, a few last times before he collapsed on top of me, his head in the crook of my neck, breath coming out hard. I dragged my hands up and down his back, trying to catch my breath just as he was. I leaned my head down on his, my breath rolling over his skin. Gaara shifted on top of me, sticking his arm under me and rolling us over so that I was on top of him. I smiled at him and put my head down on his shoulder as he pulled a blanket up over both of us. I lightly kissed his neck, wrapping my arms up around the top of his head, curling my fingers in his hair.

Gaara sighed and kissed my lips, brushing hair from my face. I closed my eyes and just laid there, listening to his even breathing until I was pulled into a deep sleep...

**Again, I do not want to hear (read) anything about me not warning you about the lemon before hand, 'cause, I did. I hope you did like this chapter, and for those who skipped my warning completely, oh well, your fault, not mine. You all should read warnings and AN's. Some of them tell about things such as this. Please review. Thank you for reading this.**


	10. After Math

Chapter 9, After Math.

I woke in Gaara's arms, he was gently playing with the end of my long pink hair. I didn't move, I was to tired. My arm felt heavy as it just laid across his bare chest, my leg that was hooked around his like an iron bar. I didn't care though, I was perfectly fine with how I was laying. I let out a content sigh and nuzzled his neck, giving him a small kiss. He shifted his arms and pulled me closer, kissing my forehead.

"I love you." I whispered, nuzzling his jaw. "Don't ever leave me." I turned his head and kissed him fully on the lips. He grabbed me by the top of my arms and pulled me so that I was fully on him.

"Never." He whispered against my lips.

"Gaara?!" A knock came at the door. I gasped and sat up, staring at the door, Gaara sat up, causing me to shift so that I was sitting in his lap. "Gaara, are you in there?!" Temari knocked again.

"Yeah." He called back, I was hoping that she wouldn't open the door. My face was already a bright red.

"Well, we're home! Come down stairs! We have something for you!" She said then left, I waited until I couldn't hear her footsteps until I turned and looked at Gaara, he was staring back at me.

"You should go down." I whispered, climbing off of his lap, but his arms stopped me, pulling me back.

"Are you coming down?" He asked, placing butterfly kisses over my shoulders and neck. I put my hands on his chest and pushed him back, so that I was looking in his eyes.

"Should I?" It was weird. I've never felt this unsure ever. They knew I was here, but they didn't know I was here, as in, in this room, buck naked with Gaara. I looked down and tucked some of my hair behind my ear, glancing back up at his face. He was looking at me with a raised eyebrow, I bit my bottom lip and crawled off his lap, hiding under the blankets.

I felt Gaara move and wrap his arms around me, lifting the covers so he could see my face. "Why wouldn't you?" He asked, brushing hair from my face. I looked up at him, but quickly dropped my gaze when I felt my face go red as a cherry. "We don't have to tell them." He whispered, a small amount of amusement in his voice.

"Y-you should go." I said, sitting up. "I'm going to take a shower." I stood from the bed, taking the sheets with me. Gaara watched as I entered the bathroom that was connected to the glass room, my room. I turned on the water and dropped the towel, getting in and just sitting down under the spray. I heard Gaara get up and put is pants back on, leaving. Once he shut the door, I banged my head against the tiles and groaned.

Once I was done my shower, I got out and wrapped in a fluffy white towel that was under the sink. Gaara still wasn't back when I went back into the room, but there was a shirt and a pair of his shorts sitting on the bed for me. I smiled and picked them up, putting them on. I walked over to the glass window that looked out over the small forest and sighed. It looked to be about noon. I turned around and stared at the picture on the wall, still trying to figure out what it was. I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths, opening them and looking at it again. The colors seemed to twist together, twisting into a form, a shape that made sense. The pale cream color shifted before me into a oval shape, the green smaller ovals on their sides. The small black ball in the green, shifting with a sparkle. The pink still didn't make sense, it spiraled through the pale cream and up above the picture, and to the sides.

I stared at it and turned my head to the side a little, the darker pink with the white in it seemed to shift into the shape of a mouth, a smiling one. With a gasp I took a step back, leaning against the glass window behind me as I finally realized what the picture was.

Me.

It was of me. I was smiling, my eyes glittering, hair flying in a invisible breeze. It was a perfect replica of me. He even got that one fly away hair that never did what I want it to do right. I flipped my wet hair over my shoulder as I walked up to the wall, running my hand over it. How did he do this? My fingers traced over the places where the glass was molded into the different colors. Some places was darker then others, like a kind of shading.

"Sakura?" Gaara opened the door and came in, I didn't turn around to face him. I heard him come up behind me, standing a few feet away. I reached my hand up, tracing over a small black mark near my lips, then down to my own face, a dimple. One that I didn't even know I had. I finally turned to face Gaara, my face blank of any emotion. He was standing on the other side of the room, by the glass wall. He was looking back at me, his face just as blank as mine.

"When did you see this?" I asked, turning back to look at the wall. "I don't remember being this happy..." I whispered to myself.

"When we were in the library." He said, walking closer to me. "Working on that project about Ancient Greece. You laughed a lot then."

"It's beautiful." I ran my hand along it once more before turning and walking over to him. "How did you make it?

Gaara put his hands on my sides and stared down in my eyes. "I'm... not sure if I can tell you just yet." He whispered. "But it wasn't that hard."

"You made that rose, too, didn't you?" I asked, resting my head on his chest.

"Yeah."

I smiled and closed my eyes. "Thank you."

– – –

It wasn't that hard to act like we normally did with the other, we talked little, and I made fun of him a lot. Temari and Kankuro couldn't have seen any difference in our relationship. They couldn't have known that Gaara spends every night in that room with me. I talked to Kankuro more, getting information for Ino. It seemed he was still single, nothing new about that. I was talking to Ino, asking why she was going after some guy when she was in a relationship with dog boy, it seems like they broke up, and nasty one at that.

Gaara often asked me why I was asking his brother some many questions, I just waved him off with a small kiss, making him forget about what we were talking about. I love the power I have over him. It so much fun to watch him search for words, making him blush the slightest amount of pink.

I went back to my own house Monday night, Father wasn't home, there was a note saying he would be home Wednesday. I smiled and went through the mail that had piled up in the mail box, I found a few letters to me, one from mom, one from Kyoto, and one with no return name or anything. I tossed that letter on my desk in my room, I'd read it later. I wasn't aloud back over Gaara's house until his father left again, Temari said he wasn't the best person to hang around. She said they'd come a visit me so that I didn't get to lonely.

I plopped down on my bed, staring at the two unopened letters that sat in front of me. I was debating on which one to open first.

I grabbed mom's letter and opened it. A picture fell out, I read the letter before picking it up.

_-Sakura._

_Hello sweetheart. You haven't wrote back yet, what's wrong? I was really hoping to hear from you... I still want to know about what happened with Sasuke, and if there is a new guy! Maybe I can meet him sometime! Tell me everything! _

_Anyway, I really miss you, and I want you to write back. I'm going to buy your tickets soon, when do you want to come? I have enough money to buy around trip for me, so that I can come and get you and bring you home so that you wont have to take the plane alone. That man I told you about? Mike? He's helping me with the money, I've got a bigger apartment thanks to him. Two bedrooms, can you believe it?! He even found me a better job, it pays a lot better, too! I'm so happy right now, I could dance! What a sight that'd be, huh? I laughing as I write this to you! Actually laughing! There's only one thing that would make this absolutely perfect, and that's you being here to share this with me! _

_I love you, Sakura. I always have, and always will. Please write back, I miss you._

_-Mom._

_PS,I sent you a picture of me and Mike in my new apartment. He's such a cute-y, huh?! _

I picked up the picture and turned it over, staring at the two faces. Mom hadn't changed at all, she was smiling. Her pink hair was the same color, but her eyes were brighter. She really was happy in the arms of that man. He was smiling, too, but looking at mom's face. He had brown eyes and brown hair, he was pretty cute. I set the picture down and picked up my pen and paper, I was going to write back before reading Kyoto's letter.

_-Mom._

_Hey, Sorry I haven't wrote back... something... happened. Anyway, everything is fine now, dad's gone on a business trip. It's nice to have the house to myself. I haven't been home the last few days though, and I missed a few days of school because of something that happened. I'm fine though, please don't worry. I had a few friends helping me out, I stayed over at their house for those few days. _

_And, yeah, I did break up with Sasuke, it was SO FUNNY!! You should have seen his face! It was like pissed/surprised/longing! I broke up with him in front of the whole school, then walked off holding hands with this new-ish guy from school. He moved here a few days before you left, so I don't know if you consider that new or not. His name is Sabaku no Gaara. He has an older sister, Temari, and an older brother, Kankuro. They're the ones I stayed with those few days. I love them all... I think I might be falling in love with Gaara, though... he's kinda scary on the outside, but hes really sweet and stuff once you get to know him. He made me, MADE, a glass flower for me. It's beautiful! _

_I don't know if you could consider our relationship dating... but I think we kinda skipped past a few levels, it you know what I mean. Please don't tell Kyoto, though. I don't want him to freak and come up to kill him. I really do like Gaara. I don't know how to describe him, but I'll try. He has red hair that's the color of blood, I don't know any other way of getting you to think the right color, sorry! His eyes are a jade color, they're beautiful. The kind of eyes you can just stare into for hours and never get tired. His skin is a pale color, like he never goes in the sun. Hes strong, really strong, has nice muscles too! Everyone's scared of him, they don't know him though. You really need to spend some time with him to really get to know his personality. He's cold at first, then warms up. Temari, his sister, said that I'm the only one she's ever seen him act this way to. He's not afraid to kiss me in front of people, though I don't let him, not just yet. He does have some bad habits, but not everyone's perfect, right?_

_His sister is pretty cool. Temari's the kind of girl who doesn't take crap from anyone, I want to be like her. She's a blond though, go figure. She has the personality to match the color! But, she's a strong girl and doesn't show it to much, you really have to get past the bitter outer shell and get to know her. Their brother, Kankuro... there's really no way to explain him, just... he's Kankuro. He plays with overly large dolls, calling them puppets, we all know its just a cover up. Ino has this MAJOR crush on him! She has me asking him all of these questions and stuff. It's really cute actually. She's never been so shy around a guy before. He's the middle child, and is always getting beat by Temari. He has a pervert rep. at school, and, boy, does he fit the part! He's always trying to look down my shirt and stuff. But, one hit in the head, or mentioning his dolls going into a wood chipper, keeps him away for the rest of the day. _

_Mike is pretty cute! I can already tell that he really likes you, I can see it in the picture you sent, hes looking at you with love in his eyes! Corny, I know, but true!_

_Um, I don't want to come just yet, mom. I can't leave Gaara. It wouldn't be fair to just get up and leave him. I can't do what you did. I wont. I've fallen to deep for him. I'm afraid what will happen if I leave, he's not the most stable person out there. If it wasn't for him, I'd say come tonight. But, I can't. I love him to much. Even if you say he can visit when ever, who can afford that? He is rich, but I wouldn't let him waste money like that. I really, really miss you, mom, but I can't right now. I'm sorry. _

_I love you SO much!_

_-Sakura._

_PS, I'll try to send you a picture of me and Gaara soon, and maybe even one of his brother and sister! Oh god... maybe not with Kankuro... it'd take forever to get him to sit still long enough, I swear that kid has A.D.H.D or something... Oh well, love you mom!_

I finished the letter with a little chibi drawing of me dancing in a circle and set it aside, picking up the next letter, the one from Kyoto.

_-Sakura._

_Sorry its been so long sense I've talk to you little sis. _

_How's everything going? I want to hear what's been going on, I've called the house a few times, but either dads answered, or its just rang... Where are you? Why haven't you been home? Is everything okay? _

_I met someone the other day, I think his name was Uchiha Sasuke. He said that you've been hanging out with some guy who's hurting you. He said that he's seen bruises on your arms and legs. Who is he? Give me his name so that I can come kick his ass! Sakura, I wont let anyone hurt you and get away with it, you know that. Give me his name. I'll take care of everything._

_Love ya sis._

_-Kyoto._

I rolled my eyes at his letter, flipping to a blank page in my notebook.

_-Kyoto_

_It's not him who has been hurting me. But, I don't want to talk about it, I'm fine, I promise. There's no need for you to worry about me, really! _

_Sorry I haven't been home, I've been staying at a friends house for awhile. Please don't worry about me. I'm fine. Oh, and, do not listen to anything that Sasuke tells you. He's just pissed because I broke up with him, and now I'm dating someone else... well... I guess you can call it dating. It's nothing official yet, though. Sasuke is just a sore loser who hates not getting his way._

_I love you too, Kyoto!_

_-Sakura._

I cracked my knuckles with a yawn and put both letters in different envelopes, setting them on my bag for tomorrow. I'd have Gaara bring me to the mail box before school in the morning. I laid down and stared at the glass rose that I had sitting on my nightstand. I smiled and closed my eyes, drifting off to sleep...

The next morning I felt horrible. I was sick to my stomach, feeling like I was going to throw up the whole morning. I left the house and walked down to where Gaara waited by the road, as soon as he saw me, he shut off his bike and jogged up to me, lifting my face so that he was looking into my eyes. He said that I should go back to sleep, get some rest and try to feel better. I told him I didn't want to, that I had to mail the letters and go to school. He gave in, bringing me to the mail box, then to his house. I yelled at him, saying I needed to get my homework, he flipped out his cell phone and call Temari, telling her to get all of my homework and make-up work. I glared at him the whole time, he had to carry me inside, for I refused to move from the spot I was standing.

He stayed in the glass room with me, letting me lay on top of him, listening to his breathing. I dozed off a few times, but then my stomach would act up and make me run to the bathroom. Gaara held my hair, even as I told him to leave, saying he didn't need to see it. He didn't say a word, and never left my side.

Gaara carried me back to the bed, laying me down and covering me up. I was exhausted. Being sick always made me weak. I probably looked like shit, but Gaara never left my side, he still kissed me lightly on the lips, he still hugged me close to him, telling me to rest.

I slept a few hours, the longest amount of sleep I've got all day. When I woke up, the bed was cold, I was the only one in it. I opened my eyes slowly with a scowl, looking around for Gaara. He was standing by the door talking softly with Temari, who was nodding, her face twisted with worry. There was a small amount of light coming in through the glass wall, I could see the light pink of the evening clouds slowly drifting into a dark blue color, signaling that it was night time. I shifted, drawing two pairs of eyes to me. I sat up and rubbed my forehead, they both walked over.

"What time is it?" I asked in a whisper, my eyes still felt heavy.

"Around seven. Its Tuesday, Sakura. You've slept for a few days off and on." Temari answered, sitting on the bed next to me. Okay, so maybe I slept longer then I thought... a lot longer... "How do you feel?" She placed her hand on my cheek, then my forehead.

"Tired. But not sick." I gave her a small smile. Gaara stood at the end of the bed. "I need to go home, though." I said looking up at him. Temari looked at him, but his eyes didn't leave mine. "Gaara, you know as well as I do that if I'm not home when dad gets there, then it wont end good." I had left him little hints about what happened to me, he had full out asked me if it was my father who had done that to me, I refused to answer, I heard the click in his head that night, he knew, but he didn't say anything about it to me. "Gaara... I need to go home, he gets home tonight or early tomorrow morning." I whispered.

He sighed and looked away from my eyes, up at the wall with my smiling face. I could faintly see his jaw moving, he was gritting his teeth. He looked back at me without turning his head, I stared up at him. His eyes closed with a sigh. "Fine. But, I'm staying with you tonight." He finally said, fully turning to me. "Let's go."

"Gaara, you know you can't do that." I whispered. "I promise I'll call if anything happens, or if I need help." I whispered, standing from the bed, walking past the forgotten Temari, to Gaara. I reached for his hand, lacing my fingers with him. "I promise." I repeated. He looked me up and down, then nodded.

"Don't wait up, Temari." He said as we left. I gave her a small wave as I left, saying a small thanks as Gaara shut the door.

The ride back to my house was cold, even with Gaara's jacket around me. Father wasn't home yet, so I let Gaara walk me in and up to my room, letting him look around for a little bit. I sat on my bed and watched as he looked at everything in my room, inspecting it. He was over near my vanity, looking at my different perfumes. One sprayed in his face when he was smelling it. I couldn't help but laugh when he growled at it and set it back down, coughing a little. He looked at me and walked over, putting both arms on each side of me.

"What's so funny?" He growled, glaring at me. I just shook my head and leaned forward, kissing his lips.

"You should go." I whispered as he stood up strait. "I'll be fine, I'll lock my door and keep my window unlocked encase I need you to come in through it. Okay?" I stood up and hugged him.

"Hn." He kissed the top of my head. I took his hand and lead him from my room to the door down stairs.

"I'll be fine." I giggled and kissed him once more. "I love you." I whispered. He stared back at me.

"That's the second time you've said that." He whispered, brushing hair from my face. "Why?"

"Because it's true." I smiled. He frowned and looked down for a second, before looking back up at me.

"You mean everything to me, Sakura. Love isn't a strong enough word." He whispered before kissing me deeply. I smiled against his lips and wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling his down closer to me. When we pulled away, I was gasping for air. He's never kissed me like that before, I liked it. "Sleep well, mitsukai." He whispered, kissing me one last time before leaving (mitsukai means Angel). I watched as he left, riding off into the night. I smiled softly and shut the door, making sure it was locked before I went up to my own room, locking that door as well.

Before I went to sleep, I unlocked my window, and cracked it open so that Gaara could get in if it was needed, which I didn't think it was. I crawled into my cold bed, and had a hard time falling asleep without his heat next to me...

– – –

_A small child sat in front of me. The child's back was facing me. It was all black around us, we were the only ones. The child was small, no older then two years old. I was a girl, if the long red hair was anything to go by. I stared at her until she laughed, it was like bells. I gasped and started running towards her, the feeling of protectiveness filled my gut as she didn't move any closer, no matter how hard I ran, she wasn't getting closer. I felt fear grip my heart. _

_The world seemed to turn, twist until the child was facing me, my feet froze. She had bright green eyes, dark rims around them. She was playing with sand, making a castle. There was a heart shape necklace dangling from her neck. It was made of glass, and had something carved into it, I was to far away to see it. _

_Odd feelings filled my body as she started drifting away. I screamed to her, telling her not to go. She looked up at me and laughed again, reaching out to me. I started running again, reaching for her. I wasn't getting closer, the blackness was taking her away from me. I needed to save her, I had to. Something in me told me that if I didn't, she would die. _

_Gaara appeared by her side, looking down at her with a small smile. She looked up at him and smiled, I screamed for him, he looked up at me and smiled a little bigger, waving me over. I tried, I tried to run to them, but I wasn't going anywhere. _

_A name blew on the breeze, it was to faint to catch..._

I sat up with a jolt. There was banging at my door, my father called out to me. Sweat trickled down my face, I glanced at my clock, it was only 2:30 in the morning. I called out to him to let him know I was here, he grumbled something and left. My breathing was still hard.

I wrapped my arms around my legs and thought about my odd dream. I've never had anything like that before, it was so real... With a gasp I shot out of my bed, tripping on the sheets that were wrapped around my legs. I stumbled into the bathroom and knelt in front of the cabinets under the sink, opening it and digging through everything that was in it, until I found the small box I was looking for. I took a deep breath and opened the box.

– – –

"Shit..." I whispered as I stared down at the little plus sign on the stick. I thought over the last few weeks, Gaara and I had only done it a few times... each time without using a condom... "Fuck!" I said a little louder. How could I be so stupid?! I screamed in my head. I slid down the wall to the floor, holding my head, the pregnancy test tossed in the trash.

What was I going to do now? I can't have a kid! I'm to young! I'm not even done high school! I banged my head back against the wall, over and over, trying to think of what to do. I knew I'd have to tell Gaara sooner of later, but what he would say scared me. Would he leave me? Would he be mad and yell, then leave? I had no idea what would happen. This changes everything. I banged my head against the wall again. "It explains why I've been sick..." I grumbled, standing to look for my cell phone.

Once I found it I dialed Gaara's number. He answered on the second ring, already asking if I was hurt.

"No, Gaara, I'm fine." I whispered, rubbing my forehead as I slid back down the bathroom wall. "Can you come over, please? No, I swear I'm not hurt... there's just... something important I need to talk to you about... its really important, Gaara." I waited for him to calm down before I continued. "The window's open a crack so you can get in. Go through that, dads home, I don't want you waking him up... Okay, see you then." I flipped the cell phone shut and kept banging my head.

Soon I heard the window squeak as it opened, Gaara whispered my name. I whispered back where I was, he was in the doorway in seconds. As soon as he saw me sitting on the floor he was by my side, checking me over to make sure I wasn't lying about being hurt. He found nothing, and just stared at me confused. I stared up at the ceiling, refusing to meet his gaze, I still didn't know how to tell him. I feared that he would be mad. I knew he would never hit me, but I still didn't know how he would react, and that scared me. I thought I knew him so well...

"Sakura, what's so important that you wanted me to come over so quickly for?" He asked in a whisper, tilting my chin so that I had to look at him. I stared at him for a few seconds before pushing his hand away and pointing to the trash. He raised his eyebrow and walked over, looking in. He froze, back as strait as a rod. He pulled out the test, staring at the plus sign with big eyes. "Sakura..." He whispered, looking back over at me.

I felt a tear roll down my cheek as I turned my head away from him. I closed my eyes and wrapped my arms around my stomach, I didn't know what to do.

"Sakura..." Gaara set the test down and crawled over to me, grabbing my arm and pulling me towards him. "have you taken more then one? Temari said that they can lie..." He didn't look me directly in the eye, I shook my head and pulled away from him, going to get another test. He got up and left the bathroom while I did it.

"It's still positive, Gaara." I whispered as I came out of the bathroom, holding the test in my hand still. He was sitting on my bed, looking down at the floor with a blank face. "You're the only one that could be the father." I whispered even lower. He looked up at me with guarded eyes. "I understand if you leave..." I leaned back against the door frame, dropping the test on the floor. I looked down at it, tears started blocking my view.

Arms wrapped around me, pulling my into Gaara's warm chest. "I would never leave you like this, Sakura. I couldn't leave you even if I wanted to." He whispered. "We'll find a way through this, I promise." He kissed the top of my head as I cried.


	11. No Oh, please no

**Okay heres the next chapter! Sorry if it seems like I'm hurrying things along, I don't really like this chapter, but the endings good. I like the ending. Well, let me know what you think in a review after you read it!! Thanks guys! **

Chapter 10, No. Oh, Please, No.

I mailed to mom a few times a week, I haven't got the guts up to tell her about me yet. I hinted little things to her about it, saying how I couldn't wait to have a child, or how cute they were and stuff. I was hoping she would catch on, but I didn't really believe she would figure it out. Gaara spent every night with me, my house or his. Temari caught on quickly, screaming at Gaara for how irresponsible he was, then she dragged me to her room, looking up names on the internet for the baby. She had a real split personality, it was scary at times.

About three months into my pregnancy was when Kankuro found out. I was starting to get temper mental. He said that I looked a little bigger then normal, I flipped and started screaming at him. Gaara had to hold me back from killing him. Kankuro was surprised to say the least.

It was hard to hide everything from my friends, I didn't want them knowing just yet. But, with the way my stomach was starting to grow, I didn't have much of a choice left. I caught Hinata staring at me on a few occasions, she just blushed and looked away, most of the time looking back as soon as I turned away. Gaara was a little better about letting people near me, but he still was over protective. Naruto and Hinata were the only ones aloud near me without him being there, he made some kind of deal with Naruto involving ramen.

I was currently in English class right now, Naruto and Hinata sitting on both sides of me. Today was one of those days where I just felt like shit. I had on a pair of Gaara's grey sweat pants, and a big shirt that I tied at the back so it fit me better, along with a normal, and random, pair of sneakers. Gaara had to drag me out of bed this morning, and I was having trouble staying awake. Jiraiya-sensei was going on and on about something, it was going in one ear, and right out the other. I think Naruto was getting more out of this then I was, and that's just plain scary. Hinata tapped my shoulder again, I fell asleep. Crap.

"Can you repeat the question, please?" I asked, looking up at the perverted teacher. I blinked. Blinked again. "Where is everyone?"

"Class is over, Sakura." Hinata giggled, placing my bag on the desk.

"Really? Gosh, how time flies while you're sleeping." I said in a dazed voice as I stood up, holding back a wince when I felt that prickly feeling on the bottom of my foot. Great, my foots asleep.

"Sakura." I looked up to see Gaara walking in, and over to us. Hinata told him I fell asleep again, he nodded and walked over to me, kissing my lips. "Are you feeling okay?" He whispered, low enough so that Naruto and Hinata wouldn't hear. I smiled and nodded, wrapping my arms around his waist as he hugged me close. I saw Naruto and Hinata shift uncomfortably. Even after all these months of me and Gaara being together, they still haven't gotten used to it. Well, they were better then most. The only reason why Ino excepted us was because I could get better information on Kankuro for her.

"Can we go home now?" I groaned, looking up at him with tired eyes. "I didn't sleep well last night." Last night was the first night in a long time that Gaara wasn't there. Him and Kankuro had to leave for their father, Temari and I stayed at the Sabaku's house hold. I've met Gaara's father once or twice, he seemed okay, but his kids didn't like him, not one bit. I've only said hello to him, that's it. Never anything more then that. Gaara or Temari always pulled me away, making an excuse, Kankuro just grabbed me and pushed me out of the room, not bothering with an explanation.

Gaara nodded and started leading me away, handing Naruto some money for his ramen deal. Naruto squealed with delight, already talking to Hinata about what kind of ramen he was going to eat tonight. I rolled my eyes and wrapped my arm around Gaara's waist, leaning my head on his shoulder. Gaara strapped our bags to his bike and got on, reaching for my hand like he always did. I slipped my hand in his, but stopped and looked behind me when I heard a loud revving of an engine.

Sasuke...

He sat in his car, facing us. I knew he was glaring at our hands, I could feel it. Bu his windows were tinted, so I could not see in. I turned back towards Gaara, kissing him deeply before I got on his bike, throwing Sasuke a smirk as he took off.

There was a letter from mom when I got home. I grabbed it from Gaara and walked into the house, him following. It was one of those days where father wouldn't be home until late, so Gaara was safe being here for a little while. I laid down on my bed, Gaara sat next to me.

_-Sakura._

_Hey, hunny! Geez, I wish you would tell me when to buy those tickets! I want you down here, now! I miss you so much, sweetheart, its breaking me being away from you like this! _

_So, you and that Gaara guy are really serious, huh? All you do is talk about him, or Naruto, or Hinata. What happened to all of your other friends? What happened to TenTen, or Ino, or that Neji guy? Or even Shikamaru! Tell me about how lazy he is, like you always used to! I want to hear more about your life, Sakura. _

_Oh! Before I forget, Mike says hello! He's been bugging me to tell you sense I got out the paper and pen! I can't believe him. He wants to meet you so bad! He keeps bugging me about it! I think its sweet how much he wants to know about you, and how much he can't wait until he gets to meet you!_

_So, about Gaara... Hmm... I don't really know about that one sweetheart. Everyone is different. When I had your brother, your father stayed with me the whole time, then, two years later, out popped you! If anything DID happen, I'm sure he would never leave you, and I don't think he would ever lie about something like that. With how much you tell me about him, I feel like I know him personally. He doesn't seem like the kind of guy who would just leave like that, Sakura. Gaara seems like a nice guy, despite his over protectiveness. And, you're right about that, maybe he is going a little to far with that whole thing. I mean, you need to be able to do what you want, Sakura, not what some man tells you to do. Don't ever let a man tell you who you can and can't hang out with, it will ruin your life._

_I love you, Sakura. And I miss you SO much, sweetheart. Talk to you soon, _

_-Mom._

I stared at her words for a few more seconds before looking up at Gaara with pleading eyes. He stared back at me with a blank gaze, he knew I wanted something. With a sigh he gave up and stood, walking over to my desk grabbing my notebook and pen. This was what we did every time I got a letter from mom, I'd read it, beg him to get me my notebook and pen, then I'd write, then he'd mail the letter on his way home. Simple. I smiled when he handed me it, kissing him lightly as he laid down next to me, putting his head on my shoulder blade.

_-Mom._

_Sorry, I still can't leave yet! I told you, something big has come up, and I can't leave for... a long while... Hi Mike! I can't wait to see you, too! _

_And, yeah, we are really serious. I think about him every night, and he's always here for me. I'm not really on... talking terms with the others... because of something that happened... I don't want to talk about it, I'll tell you some other day, mom. And, yes, Shikamaru is as lazy as ever! But, lately, I've been falling asleep in class more then he has. I haven't been sleeping well._

_I've been having these strange dreams about this girl. She's a baby, maybe two years old. I feel this over whelming need to protect her, like if I don't, the world will end. She smiles at me, and I feel my heart melt. I love her so much, and don't even know who she is. I haven't told Gaara about this yet, I don't want to freak him out. You're the only one that knows about her, I don't know if I should tell anyone else. I want to know who she is, where she came from, and if she's real. Right before I wake up, theres like a name being whispered in the wind, if that makes any sense. I don't get it. Has this ever happened to you?_

_Gaara is NOT like dad, I can guaranty that, mom. I would never look at him is he became anything like father. I'm just over reacting, I guess. Maybe its just all in my head. But, if something does ever happen, I just want to know that he'll always be by my side, and never let me go. I know its foolish to wish for such things at my age, but I can't help it. I love him, with all my heart. I don't ever want him to leave. I don't know what I would do if he wasn't there to hold my hand, to kiss my cheek and tell me I looked beautiful when I looked like crap, to hug me when I cry, telling me everything is going to be alright. I don't think life is worth living with out him in it._

_He's not... that... controlling. He let's me do things that I want to, he's just worried about me. It's my own choice not to be talking to the others, not his. He's just looking out for me, that's all. And, mom, do you really think that I would let ANYONE tell me who I can and can't talk or hangout with?!_

_Love and miss you to, mom!_

_-Sakura._

I ended my letter with my usual chibi me dancing in a circle. I picked up a picture that was in my notebook. It was of me and Gaara. I got Temari to take it of me when Gaara and I were sitting out in there garden. Gaara was leaning against a tree, his chin on my shoulder. I was sitting between his legs, smiling at the camera while Gaara looked down at me with a small smile. He had his arms around me, his fingers laced with mine. I picked up another picture, it was of Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara. It was hard to get them all together without them killing each other, but, I finally got a quick snap shot of them. Temari was about to hit Kankuro with a frying pan, Kankuro was trying to climb over Gaara to get away from her, and Gaara was glaring at Kankuro as he tried to crawl over the redhead that was sitting against the couch. I let out a small giggle remembering their faces when the flash went off. They had all tried getting the camera from me to delete the picture. I his it down my shirt, Gaara was the only one that went after it when I did that, I told him he wasn't to come over tonight, and he backed away, glaring.

Gaara sat up and looked over my shoulder at the pictures, rolling his eyes as he laid back down, putting his arm over my hip, resting his head on my lower back.

_PS, this is Gaara and me, then the other one is Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari. I finally got a picture of all of them! I took the one of them a few nights ago, and the one of me and Gaara was yesterday. I had Temari take it, she went a little over board with the camera, I had to delete a bunch of snap shots just to find the one I liked. I picked this one, I like the lighting. Oh, and don't worry about Kankuro, they attacked me after I took the picture, they didn't know I was taking it, so he didn't end up getting hit with the frying pan!_

I finished my letter and stuck it in a envelope, sealing it with my tongue. I put it in the notebook, as a marker so that I wouldn't forget to hand it to Gaara before he left. I pushed it off the bed, onto the nightstand, and rolled over, making Gaara have to move with me.

"Done already?" He whispered, moving so that his head was resting on mine, his arms around me.

"Yeah." I smiled and lightly kissed his neck. I closed my eyes and let my body go limp in his arms. I was tired. Really tired. Gaara's hand rubbed my back, his other under my shirt, resting on my slightly swollen stomach.

I didn't know how much longer I could keep this up. Everyone was starting to ask questions. One day, I was just so grumpy that I yelled at Ino, telling her "So what if I'm fat?!" I felt so bad after, and burst strait into tears. Everyone in the hall stared, but as soon as Gaara showed up, they all looked away, going on with their lives. Ino was a little traumatized, being wary around me for the next few days. I knew that at some point I would have to see a doctor, to make sure everything was going okay with the baby. Gaara and I rarely talked about, we both avoided the subject completely if possible. Father hadn't found out about it yet, I've been home rarely, and mostly when hes gone is when I've ever been home.

Gaara's gotten better about the whole "smoking pot" thing. I don't ever see him smoking it, but once in a great while I can smell it on him. He still smokes, I don't expect him to change his whole life around for me. He's opened up way more then I ever dreamed of, I'm still hesitant on telling him what's happened in my family in the past. I don't talk about it, he doesn't talk about his families past, neither of us ask.

I nuzzled Gaara's neck before I rolled so that I was laying on my back, facing the ceiling. Gaara's hand stayed on my stomach, mine covering his. His fingers spread apart, mine fitting between them. My eyes closed once more with a contented sigh. Gaara moved closer to me, his head resting against mine as I fell asleep.

– – –

I woke with a jolt, springing into a sitting position. My breathing was hard, coming in gasps, I looked around the room, searching for Gaara, he was no where in sight. I grabbed the note that was resting on my pillow.

_When you wake up, don't freak out, Sakura. I went home around ten. You told me not to stay the whole night, so I didn't, even though I wanted to. Your father is pulling in the driveway as I write this, be careful, migoto. I'll be there in the morning to bring you to school. Sleep well._

_-Gaara._

I was still breathing hard after I read the note three times. I lifted a shaky hand to rub my sweat covered forehead, I winced with disgust and got out of bed to take a shower.

The water was hot, it burned my skin, but I couldn't shake the cold feeling that lingered from my dream. I scrubbed my skin until it hurt. I could still feel the dirt on my skin, but, there was nothing on me, nothing but the lingering memory in my mind. I could feel my sobs starting to shake my body, I slid down the wall so that I wouldn't fall. The water rolled over my skin, my hair stuck to my shoulders and face, I couldn't find the strength to brush them away.

I was still having dreams of that girl. They were mostly the same, but recently there had been more people in it. People that were fully submerged in the shadows, but they were there. Their eyes stared with disapproving glints, whispers about me could be heard as they moved closer to each other. Gaara was staring at me, too. He was by my side, yet so far away. Every time I tried to reach for him, he'd move farther away, that look still in his eyes. I didn't understand it, but something was off, something that wasn't good. His eyes resembled the peoples from my fathers work, the ones who looked down on me, the ones who thought they were better... there was also pity in his jade orbs...

I stayed in the shower for a few hours. I finally stood up and turned off the, now cold, water and got out, wrapping a fluffy towel around my body. I looked at myself in the mirror, I looked like crap. I was now seeing myself how others saw me everyday. I looked old, old and worn out. The skin around my eyes was tinted with a dark blue/black color, making me look like I haven't slept in weeks. My skin was a gross pale cream color, now red from my over heated and over scrubbing shower. I pulled the towel away from my body and looked at the bump between my hips. It wasn't to big yet, but big enough for people to start noticing. My legs looked weak, like they would break. All in all, I looked like an old women, pathetic.

Pathetic...

I cringed at the word, stepping back from the mirror, looking down as I reached for the clean set of clothes I set out before I got in the shower. I pulled Gaara's sweat pants up my legs and tightened the sting around my hips, letting them hang a little. I put a black bra on before I pulled Gaara's black tank top over my head. I think I have half of his wardrobe here. I smiled at the thought of him living with me, being here every night. It wasn't like he was here, or me there, almost every night, but it would be nice to know that I had a real home. Somewhere where I couldn't wait to get back to, somewhere I didn't have to worry every second of the day.

I left the bathroom putting my pink hair in a pony tail as I left my room, in search of a snack. I looked all though the kitchen before just grabbing an apple off the counter. It was almost time for Gaara to start on his way over to pick me up for school, I still needed to get my bag ready, and attempt to do some of my homework... Naw, I'll just say Gaara ate it. I smiled and a small giggle left my lips at the thought of Genma-sensei taking that excuse.

I walked into my room and grabbed my bag, tossing it on my bed as I went over to my closet to get a pair of shoes.

"You left your door unlocked, Sakura..." A chuckle came from behind me. I froze in fear, my hand instantly going to my stomach as I heard his feet coming closer, the door closing behind him. My apple bounced on the floor, rolling towards the tightly locked window...

– – –

(GAARA'S POV!!!!)

I stared out my window at the sun. Temari and Kankuro were in the kitchen getting breakfast, I could hear the bowels. Sakura would be getting up by now, probably taking a shower or drying her hair. My thought's always revolved around her. I didn't mind, she was mine, and was carrying my child. The night she told me about that... to tell you the truth, I was scared shit less. I swear my heart had stopped. But when I saw her tears, it kick started and made me realize what this ment.

My phone vibrated, Sakura's face showing on the caller ID. I quickly read through the short text message she sent me, she found a way to school, she didn't need me to pick her up. I frowned at this, she always wanted me to pick her up. I replied, asking why, she said because she found a ride. Was she mad at me or something? I sighed and left my room, scratching the back of my neck, hanging out with Naruto so much, his stupidness rubs off on ya. Temari and Kankuro were grabbing their bags when I got down, just about ready to head out the door.

My sister and brother were no longer scared of me like they used to be. When I got angry, they were careful, but were not scared. Seeing Temari glance at me with a worried face reminded me of something I had yet to tell Sakura. Something I had been dreading from the time we started getting to know the other. Something that I had been avoiding, something that I dreaded talking about. I looked away from her and grabbed my keys. I was taking the car today, it looked like rain.

It didn't take long to get to school, about five-ten minutes. Everyone was already there, all but Temari and Kankuro who I had passed on my way. They drove slow, the speed limit, I wanted to shiver at the thought, but held it back. I took a seat next to Naruto at the table, Hinata was glancing around me. I stared at her blankly.

"Where's Sakura?" She asked in her small voice. "Doesn't she ride with you, Gaara?" She didn't have to ask, she knew Sakura was always with me. I only let her out of my sight a few times a day. That was only when we had different classes, and when she had to go to the bathroom. And then, someone was always with her.

"She got a ride from someone else." I said, glancing to see who was missing along with my blossom. I looked over every face, doing a recount. TenTen and my siblings were gone. TenTen must be picking her up, I thought as I got up and walked to class with Naruto.

Half the day passed, it was lunch time. Sakura wasn't in history, I was getting edgy. Maybe they just went shopping, I kept thinking, or, at least that was until I saw TenTen laughing in her seat next to Hinata and Neji at the lunch table, no Sakura. Maybe she's with Tsunade-sama, Tsunade walked into the lunch room, screaming at Genma about something. I looked back at the table, only to meet Hinata's worried eyes. Something was wrong. Very wrong. Hinata seemed to sense it to, as soon as she was out of her chair, I was running for the doors.

I jumped down the flight of stairs, running at full speed to my car. The rain was coming down hard, I got in and slammed my car into gear as soon as it was on. I raced down the streets, looking for any sign of pink hair, I found nothing. I raced on towards her house.

There were no cars in the driveway, I got out of the car and ran up to the door, banging loudly. Someone pulled in behind me, I stared until I saw Hinata step out with Naruto in the passengers side. Something was terribly wrong. I took a few steps back and lifted my foot, slamming it into the door. A loud crack rang over the sound of rain. I slammed my foot once more into the door, Hinata and Naruto were running up towards me as the door gave in under the pressure. I ran in, yelling Sakura's name. No response.

"Check the rooms down here, I got upstairs." I said to them as I started running for the stairs. My heart was in my throat, I've never been so scared in my life. What if she was fine? What if she wasn't? What if she just over slept and missed her ride? What if she never had a ride and something bad happened? The "what if"s were killing me. "Sakura?!" I called out, searching ever room as I went.

All of the rooms were empty. The room next to Sakura's, her father's room, I found a shirt with spattered blood laying on the floor. My heart almost came out of my throat. I checked the bathroom in her fathers room quickly, nothing but a bloody towel.

"Gaara!" Hinata's shriek filled the air. She was in Sakura's room, her crying was coming from the wall.

I raced from the room, it seemed like I was going in slow motion, not moving quick enough. I saw Naruto at the top of the stairs when I came out of the room, our eyes locked for a split second before we turned and raced to the room. The door had locked behind Hinata, it locks automatically once its shut tightly. I slammed my foot into it with all my force, it gave with one hit. I stumbled into the room with Naruto right behind me, everything stopped.

Nothing in the world seemed to be moving when I saw her. It just... stopped.

Sakura lay on the floor by the window. Her hair was covering her face, sweeping the floor all around her head. Blood matted the once bright pink locks, blood was all over her. I could feel the vomit raising in my throat, past my heart, from seeing her like this. If it was anyone else, someone I didn't know, I would be smiling at the sight. But now, with it being the one I love, I want to die. There were finger marks on the window, marks made from blood, she had been trying to open the locked window. I fell to my knees next to Hinata who was crying in her hands. I slowly crawled over to her, I could see now that her arms were wrapped protectively around her middle, trying to shield the unborn child.

For the first time in all my life, I felt the hot tears start to streak my cheeks. I reached out for her, turning her so that she was facing up, instead of being on her side. Blood smeared her face, traveling down her ripped shirt where a stab wound was just below her last right rib. My stomach churned. Her arms fell apart, a glass rose falling from her hands. The one I had made her, she had it clutched tightly in her hands.

With careful hands, I lifted her into my arms, pushing back the bloodied hair that was stuck to her perfect face. Hinata was crying from behind me, I could hear Naruto's sniffles as well. Hinata was repeating the same thing over and over...

"No. Oh, please, no..." My head fell down into the crook of Sakura's neck as the tears continued running down my cheeks.

How could this have happened? How could I have let it come to this? I knew one thing...

It was all my fault.

**Poor Sakura... Poor Gaara... whats gonna happen next??? And, most of all, what happens when Gaara finds Sakura's father? .**


	12. What if?

Chapter 11, What If?

I wasn't aware of anything that was going on around me. All I could think about were the "what if"s again.

What if I was there in time to stop this?

What if I would have gone over to get her anyway?

What if she was at school right now, and not here laying in my arms?

What if she was breathing, like she is now?

My breath caught in my throat as I stared down at her, watching as her chest slowly rose and fell. Small, small movements, such a big change.

"She's alive! Call 911!" I yelled, putting Sakura back on the floor, careful not to move her to much. I slapped the broken cell phone out of my way, anger raising when I realized it was her father who had text me this morning. I could hear Naruto yelling into a cell phone, trying to explain something he didn't know. Hinata was by my side, making sure that I wasn't hallucinating.

"Gaara, what about the baby?" She asked, watching as I pressed my shirt into the stab wound to stop the bleeding. She knew. Didn't surprise me, I knew she's known for awhile.

"We need to keep Sakura alive." Was my answer. There was a gurgled gasp, Sakura was choking. "Hold her head up!" Hinata picked her head up and tilted it to the side, blood poured out of her mouth. Anger was starting to out weigh my worry and pain.

"There coming!" Naruto got to his knees on the other side of Sakura and took his shirt off, just as I had done, and was now pressing it to another stab mark on her shoulder.

– – –

My anger was starting to get the better of me.

I was now sitting in the waiting room with Naruto, Hinata, Temari, Kankuro, and that annoying blond bitch, Ino. She was currently yelling at me for letting this happen, if she doesn't shut up soon I'll snap her neck in half. I had my head in my hands looking at the floor, trying to contain what I tried so hard to hide. Temari saw this and quickly pulled her from the room, I let out a sigh of relief. Kankuro didn't like the way Temari pulled Ino, he was now yelling at her in the hall.

"She'll be okay... I hope." Hinata whispered, resting her hand on my back. I turned my head slightly to look at her. Her face was streaked with tears, eyes full of worry. She had on hand on my back, the other tightly around Naruto's, as if she was holding on for dear life. I shut my eyes and looked away again. Her hand started rubbing circles in my back, it felt comforting, but I didn't deserve it. I stood and walked away, feeling her sad eyes still on me.

Tsunade had come in about fifteen minutes ago, demanding to know what happened. I told her everything. About Sakura's father hurting her, and her mother leaving, about Sakura carrying my child. Tsunade was astonished to say the least. She had rushed off to try and save the both of them, now I just had to wait, and, to tell you the truth, its killing me. I want to help, I need to do something. Something to get my mind off of the things that could go wrong, of how much I was wishing her father would walk through those doors so that I could kill him. I asked the nurse for the hundredth time how much longer, her answer was still the same.

"We don't know yet, I'm sorry sir."

Sorry my ass.

No one here cared. No one cared that Sakura could die, they didn't care about her in the least bit. I'm the only one that cares, the others are fake. Doing it for my befit. Maybe Naruto and Hinata were real, maybe Temari and Kankuro, too. But not Ino. Tsunade, yeah she cares, I believe that.

I paced back and forth, my hands pulling at my hair. It had been hours sense we got here. _Hours_. There was still no news on Sakura, what were they doing in there?! My thoughts were all about her, and the what ifs. I was going to go more mad then I currently am if I don't get some information soon.

"Gaara? Gaara!" I glanced up to see TenTen running in with Neji jogging behind her. "What happened?" She was a little out of breath, her eyes were scared.

Shrug.

That was all I could do. If I opened my mouth, something they would not like would come out. I turned and walked down the hall, restraining myself from putting a hole in the wall.

– – –

(SAKURA'S POV!!)

I was in pain.

Everything was black, I felt like I was falling. I could see myself, like I wasn't me, but another person watching me fall. The black was bottomless. Nothing to catch me, nothing to stop my fall. I just kept falling. It felt like the blackness was trying to eat me, swallow me whole. I was being crushed, the blackness closing in on me, squeezing me to nothing. I tried to cry out, tried to scream, but nothing left my mouth. Nothing but air.

There was a kick to my head, I remember that, and a stab to my ribs and shoulder. I can feel the pain now. I can feel its sting, the throbbing pulse. Something moved within me. Something small, something that shouldn't be able to move yet. Then, there she was. The girl from my dreams, much older, staring at me with sad eyes.

_Fight._.. _Don't give up..._

She whispered. I stared at her, not understanding. I started pushing back at the blackness, trying to understand her, to understand what she was telling me. A slow smile stretched across her face, her bright green eyes shining from within the black circles around them. I reached out my hand to her, it felt like putting my hand through a thick sauce, or pudding. She smiled more gently and shook her head, she started disappearing.

I tried to scream, I tried to tell her not to go, to stay with me. My arm was being pulled back, the blackness eating me up. I tried to scream to her, I wanted her to stay, a small sound came out. She smiled and closed her eyes, she was gone.

_Hold her down..._

I could hear voices. The darkness was starting to fade away, light coming back. I called out to her, reaching again. I saw my hand, a blinding light. I was still reaching out to her.

_"Bind her arms down!"_

I stopped, letting something pull my arm down, tying it to what ever I was on. I knew that voice. I knew who it was, but then I didn't. I tried to see around me, my head moved from side to side, tears blocked my sight. I whimpered, I wanted to see! Why aren't they wiping them away?! I asked myself, desperately trying to get the tears away from my eyes so that I could see the owner of the voice. Something was pressed to my eyes, taking all of the wetness away. I glazed around me, Tsunade was standing over me, blood covered her white lab coat.

"Keep her awake!" She barked, people hovered around my head, almost blocking my view.

I finally noticed the mask that was covering my mouth and nose, pushing and pulling air from my lungs. I felt a small tug at my skin above my ribs, the sound of something snipping. She was stitching me back up. I saw the room swirl, my head started hurting, the beeping sound slowing.

"We're losing her!" A nurse shouted from by my head. Everyone's hands were on my at once. The room was starting to take a bur effect, it looked kind of cool. I shook my head, trying to rid of it, I was getting a head ache.

"Sakura.... Sakura, look at me." Hands turned my face so that I was looking into Tsunade's scared eyes. I didn't like seeing them like that, I tried to turn away, but she held my face. "You need to fight it. Stay with us. For me, for you, for your friends, Sakura. Stay awake." She brushed hair from my face, then, in the lowest whisper I've heard come from her, "For Gaara."

Warmth flooded through my body at hearing his name. I felt the need to live, the power. Knowing that he would be waiting for me, no matter what, I tried to fight off death. I pushed against it, trying to get Gaara's face in my mind. My eyes closed, and there he was, staring back at me with his blank face. But, like always, his eyes held emotion that would never be seen on his face. They held worry, they were frightened, so much anger, all at once. I held onto his face, not letting go. Another image made it's way into my mind, of the girl from my dreams, the older version. My daughter. Our daughter. Gaara looked away from me, to the girl, a small smile coming to his lips. I smiled in response. Gaara looked back at me, the smile still in place, but his eyes were different, they were full of love. Nothing else, only love...

– – –

The blinding light's back. My eyes squinted shut, I let out a small noise from the pain. Shuffling sounds from all around me was heard, my heart kick started into over drive.

"Sakura?" A whisper from my right, something grabbing my hand. "Sakura, can you hear me?" Gaara. I smiled small, and squeezed his hand to let him know I could. I felt his lips against my knuckles. "She's awake." He said a little louder, I guessed that there was other people in the room. A few sighs of relief were heard, then more shuffling.

"Sakura?" Hinata. She took my hand, I could almost hear the smile in her voice, the tears in her eyes. "I'm so glad that you're alright." She whispered, giving my limb a gentle squeeze.

I tried to open my eyes again, the light was still there, but not as bright. My eyes fluttered, testing to make sure it didn't hurt like it had last time. I opened them a little, and glanced around. Gaara had his eyes closed, mouth resting on my hand. I smiled a little bit and moved my thumb along his chin, he opened his eyes and looked up at me, a smile stretching across his face. He stood up and bent over me, brushing hair from my neck. His hand cupped my cheek, his other still holding on to mine. He slowly bent down and kissed me lightly on the lips, then he rested his forehead against mine.

"Sakura, don't ever do that to me again." He whispered, warm breath rolling over my cold face. I smiled and nodded, bringing the hand that Hinata had been holding up to his face. "I love you." he whispered as my hand brushed against his cheek.

"I-I-I lov-ve y-you t-too." I whispered, it coming out more as a croak then anything. His smile got a little bigger as he kissed me again. My hand left his face and went to my stomach... I gasped and looked down, breaking the kiss. Tears welled in my eyes as my hands searched for the missing bump.

"Sakura..." Gaara whispered, his hand covering mine, stilling it. "the baby is alive, don't fret." He looked into my half mad eyes as he continued. "You could not continue to carry her, Tsunade had her put in a machine that will keep her alive, and let her grow." He whispered, bringing my hand up to his lips.

"Y-you keep saying her-r." I whispered, my voice slowly coming back. A small smile came to my lips when he smirked. I let my eyes slowly fall until they were closed, tightening my hand around Gaara's. He kissed my forehead and sat down in a chair which was pulled up against the bed.

"What are you going to name her?" Naruto asked, somewhere near where Hinata was. I could feel the bed leaning down toward where she was leaning on it. I felt Gaara's eyes on me at the question.

"Aurora." I whispered, opening my eyes slightly to look at Gaara. He was, yet again, smiling at me. I've never seen him so... so expressive before. I smiled at the thought and closed my eyes once again, drifting off to sleep.

– – –

Gaara was still by my side when I woke. He was still awake, but his head rested on the edge of the bed, eyes closed. His thumb was tracing circles over my hand, gently moving my fingers around his. I smiled a little bit and closed my eyes once more, letting out a small sigh, his head lifted. My eyes opened again, staring right back into his, his eyes glittered with happiness, none of it moving to his face. There was something else in his eyes, something he was trying to hide from me. A frown reached my lips as I took my hand and gently ran it over his face as he put his head back down on the bed, eyes never leaving mine. There was a shuffling sound from the other side of the hospital bed. I glanced over to my left to see Sasuke fast asleep in the chair, my frown turned into a full out scowl.

Gaara's hand quickly turned my chin back to face him, he was a lot closer then before, he was now standing leaning close to my face. "He's here because he's concerned." Gaara whispered, cupping my cheek. "He hasn't touched you, I would not let him." I glanced back at the other man in the room, wincing mentally when I remembered what he had done to me. I reached for Gaara's hand, pulling him down so that he was laying on the bed next to me. He gave a small chuckle that shook his body when I snuggled as close as I could into his side, my face hiding in the crook of his neck.

"I love you." I whispered, giving his neck a quick kiss.

"I love you, too, Sakura." He whispered, pulling me a little closer. One of his hands slipped under the blanket and rubbed my back, slipping under the hospital dress thing that I had on. I smiled against his skin and rolled my eyes, shaking my head with a small giggle, it hurt my side. "Sh. Go back to sleep, mitsukai." He kissed my hand and rested his head down against mine, his hand rubbing small circles in my back. I was asleep in seconds.

– – –

They said I would have to stay a month in the hospital. People visited me every single day. My room was full will beautiful flowers, Gaara hung all of my cards on the walls for me. He barely left my side at all, which I didn't mind one bit. Tsunade made it so that he could spend the nights here with me, they set up his own bed, but he always slept next to me, holding my hand, or having his arm wrapped around me.

Temari was here all of the time, too. She brought in the homework I asked her to get for me, it gave me something to do other then make out with Gaara, which I didn't mind to much, but he was starting to want to go farther, I don't want to just yet, and not in the hospital. I went to see our daughter a few times, she looked so small it made me cry, that was the last time Gaara would let me go see her. I had broken down crying, remembering what happened. He made me stay away from that part of the hospital. He left every now and then, mostly when I was asleep, to check on her, and then he'd tell me how she was doing and stuff.

It's my second week in the hospital, and I just woke up. Gaara isn't in the room, but Temari is, she said that he went to see Aurora. I smiled and nodded, laying back against the fluffy pillows.

"What time is it?" I asked, stretching my arms over my head, wincing slightly at the sharp pain from my shoulder where I was stabbed. I poked at the badge as I looked over towards the door, it was being slowly slid open. "Oh... my... god..."

"SAKURA!" My mother flew through the door and ran over, wrapping my in a tight hug. I let out a small yelp of surprise, a gasp of pain came from my mouth when she squeezed my ribs, where the bandages were wrapped around yet another stab wound. "WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED YOUNG LADY?!" She screamed, shaking me by the shoulders. "I haven't heard from you in, like, YEARS!! Then, I get a letter from you, or so I thought, but it was some guy named Gaara! He told me you were here, I got the first flight in that I could! And, and and..."

"Mom, breathe!" I said, trying to push her away from me. "I'm okay, see?" I lifted my hands up to show her, but winced at the pain from my ribs, she saw and started crying again.

"Sakura-" Gaara walked into the room seeing my mother crying her eyes out. I slowly turned to stare at him.

"Gaara, can I talk to you please?" I gave him a smile, it didn't stay. I could feel it melting into the best glare I have ever made. If Gaara wasn't so scared, he would have been proud.


	13. Why?

Chapter 12, Why?

"Why, Gaara? Why?" I begged, almost at tears. I could feel them scraping the back of my eyes, begging to be released.

"It's the way it has to be, Sakura." He whispered, looking down, not meeting my eyes as he stood from the edge the bed. "I'm sorry."

"Please, don't do this to me, please!" I tried again, throwing the blankets off of me, quickly getting to my feet. "Not now, please!"

"I'm sorry." He whispered again, walking towards the door.

"You're a coward!" I yelled, the tears finally coming down my cheeks. "Fine, leave! I don't want you here anyway! Run away from everything like always!" He stopped and glanced back at me, I could clearly see the pain on his face, but I couldn't stop. The words tumbled from my mouth before I could even think about what I was about to say... "I hate you."

"I know." A whisper so small I could barely hear it.

He was gone. Gone from sight, gone from the room, gone from my life. Gone forever. Never coming back.

I crumpled to the ground, screaming as loud as I could. Nurses rushed in, trying to help me, but I didn't move. I could feel Tsunade's sad eyes on me from the door... I screamed louder.

Once mother left the room I sat there glaring at Gaara. He stood awkwardly by the bed, looking anywhere but me. I wasn't mad that he told mom that I was in the hospital, I was mad that he didn't tell me, that I wasn't prepared for her hysterics. I sighed and rubbed my head, moving to stand up from the bed. I walked over to him and wrapped my arms around him, hugging him tightly. He hugged me back and kissed my forehead.

"I wish you would have told me." I mumbled into his chest, fully leaning against him. He held me tightly and started pushing be back towards the bed. I smiled and lifted my feet, placing them on top of his as he walked the both of us to the bed.

"I'm sorry." He whispered, bending down to kiss me on the lips. "I thought that you would be happy to see her." He kissed me again and pushed me down on the bed.

I put my arms behind me as he leaned closer to me. "I am happy, just a little angry that you didn't tell me. I'm surprised she was this good with seeing me in here." I gave a small laugh and kissed him, patting his cheek. "Why don't you go get her. I'm afraid she might start balling again. I don't want her to randomly do that and freak someone out." He rolled his eyes and gently kissed me once more before standing and going to the door.

Mother came back in and sat down on the bed next to me, asking what happened. I told her a lie. I didn't want her to know about father just yet, she'd freak that he was doing the same thing to me that he had once done to her. I told her I was over Gaara's house, and fell down his stairs, Gaara watched me the whole time with guarded eyes. I knew he thought it was bad that I was lying to her, but it was the only way to get her calm enough to think right. I hate seeing her all worked up. She asked me about other things, seeing that I didn't like talking about what happened. I introduced Gaara to her, telling her this was the guy I told her all about.

We had all been talking for a good half hour when there was a knock on the door, we looked up to see a man with brown hair coming in. Mother smiled and jumped up, running over to grab his hand and pull him towards the bed. She quickly told me this was her Mike, and that he had come on a flight after her, so that she could get here first. Gaara sat down on the bed and took my hand in his, kissing my knuckles as we listened to mother's tail about how they met. Mom seemed really happy being in his arms, it made me smile.

"Goodness... it seems like forever ago." Mother smiled up at Mike, who smiled down at her. I leaned my head back against Gaara's chest as I watched them. That's when I saw something sparkly.

"Mom!" I gasped, jumping up as fast as my wounds would let me. I grabbed her hand and brought it up to my face, a big rock sat on her ring finger.

"He asked me to merry him!" She squealed, jumping up and down.

"It's beautiful!" I said, giving her a hug. I turned and smiled at Gaara, showing him her hand. "Look at it!" I giggled and turned back to mom, giving her another hug.

– – –

It was later that day. Mom and Mike had left to go get a hotel room. Gaara was still with me, telling me about how much Aurora was growing. We were both laying on the bed, me leaning on him. My mind really wasn't on what he was saying, though. I was thinking about something I would rather not think about, but it wouldn't go away. Where was Sasuke? And why was he here earlier?

I didn't want to bother Gaara with my question's just yet, he seemed to happy right now. I nodded a few times, then a yawn came from nowhere, Gaara stopped talking with a small chuckle. He started rubbing my back, telling me to rest. I nodded tiredly, and closed my eyes, snuggling closer to him.

When I woke, mother was in the room, folding some clothes at the end of my bed. "I brought you something to change into when you get out of here. Jeans and a t-shirt."

"Thanks." I mumbled, stretching my arms over my head. I pulled back the dress like thing that the hospital was making me where to check on my bandages. There was a small blood patch where I had pulled the stitches yesterday. I sighed and pulled the dress thing back over my side, glancing over at mom. She was staring to the side of my with clouded eyes. "Mom?"

"Hmm?" She looked back at me and lightly shook her head, smiling. "I went to see your daughter earlier. She'd beautiful, Sakura. I wish you would have told me about her." Mom placed the folded clothes down on the bag that was next to my bed and walked over to sit next to me. "She looks a lot like Gaara."

"Really?" I asked with a small smile.

"Haven't you seen her?" Mother's smile vanished as she realized that I hadn't.

"I can't. Last time I did I broke down, Gaara said not until I'm a little better." I whispered, looking down at my hands. I could see the image of that small girl from my dreams and smiled. "I can't wait until I can." I whispered, looking up at mom with the smile.

"Well, she's beautiful. Has a lot of you in her, too." She let her hand trace over my cheek. "I'm sure you can see her soon, sweetheart."

"Sakura?" We both turned to the door as Mike came in, holding something behind his back. "I was on my way over, and I saw something that I thought you'd like. Here." He held out the bag to me. I smiled and took it, peeking inside.

I pulled out a small blue velvet box and ran my fingers over it, smiling up at him before I opened it. Sitting in a ocean of blue fabric sat two thin gold chains, both carrying a heart locket. I gasped and picked them up, turning them over in my fingers. One had the letter "S" carved on the front of the heart, the other had an "A". Sakura and Aurora. I could feel a small tear trickling down my cheek when I looked back up at him.

"Thank you. Thank you so much, Mike." He bent down to give me a hug.

"I made sure that it would fit around Aurora's neck once she is old enough not to choke herself with it." He said, taking a seat next to mom.

"It's beautiful." I whispered, opening the small heart shaped locket. The one that had the "S" on it had a small picture of a tiny baby with flaming red hair contrasting with her pale skin. "Aurora!" I gasped, looking up at them, they smiled and nodded. I opened the other one to see a picture of me and Gaara in it. The one I sent mom in the letter, the one with me smiling at the camera and him smiling down at me. It had been shrunk to fit in the small heart.

The door opened again, I didn't need to look up to know it was Gaara. I could tell by the way he walks, his steps demanded power. He came over and kissed my forehead, looking down at what I was holding. "Do you want to see her?" He whispered in my ear. I gasped and looked up at him, nodding my head furiously. He chuckled and helped my out of the bed, lacing his fingers between mine as we walked. I slipped on the rob mother brought for me and followed him out the door and down the hall.

"Where is she?" I asked, scanning the nursery for my daughter. No one baby had flaming red hair.

"This way." He tugged my hand, I frowned but followed him.

We came to a door that had a bunch of keep out signs, Gaara glanced back at me as he pushed the door open, holding his hand out to me again when I hesitated. The room was full of machines, all beeping or humming quietly. That's when I saw her. Laying on her stomach was a small baby, tubes coming from her nose to help her breathe. Tsunade smiled at me from the other side of the box crib thing that Aurora was in. I took a few steps forward, my eyes never leaving the red haired angel that was sleeping. Her hands were balled in tiny fists, legs spread out behind her. Thick black circles lined her eyes, they looked like the one's Gaara wore, but his was make-up... right? I gave Gaara a small curious glance before moving closer to my daughter. I'd find out later.

Her foot twitched when I reached the box, resting my hands on the top of it. I smiled and bent down so that I was level with her face. Mother was right, she looked a lot like her father, but I could see some of me in there. Her hair was thick, and the brightest color red I've ever seen, brighter then Gaara's.

"Can she hear me?" I asked in a whisper, afraid to wake her up.

"Yes," Tsunade answered. "she is not sleeping, don't be afraid. She just can't open her eyes yet."

"Hi, baby." I said in a small voice, my fingers touching the glass where her head was. "Momma is here sweetheart, don't worry." I glanced up at Gaara when his hand rested on my back. "Why is she in the box?" I looked back at her, barely missing the glance him and Tsunade shared.

"Germs." Tsunade said quickly, and a little sternly if you ask me. "We don't want her to get sick because of germs. She's still very little, so she is prone to any infection." I nodded and kept tracing the glass with my fingers.

"When will I be able to hold her?" I asked, looking back up. Tsunade and Gaara shared another look, Gaara shook his head. "What? Is something wrong with her?" I quickly stood up, glancing between the two.

"No, Sakura, Aurora is... fine." Gaara said slowly. "Come, let's get you back to your room, you need to rest." Gaara grabbed my lower arm and started pulling me away. I didn't want to leave her yet.

"No." I pulled my arm back and looked at Tsunade. "What is going on?"

She just looked at the floor. "It's not my place to say." She whispered.

"Gaara?"

He crossed his arms over his chest and raised his chin a little. "We'll talk about it later. You need to rest. Let's go, now." He nodded towards the door. I sighed and turned back to Aurora, reaching into my pocket. I set the small gold chain with the heart locket down on the glass.

"That's for you, sweetheart. I love you." I whispered, tracing the glass once more before leaving.

Mom and Mike said good-night to us then left. Gaara didn't sit on the bed with me, he didn't sit near me. I stared at the small picture of our daughter as the silence thickened in the room. I carefully shut the locket and clasped the lock behind my neck, letting the heart fall into my shirt. I laid back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. Something was wrong, they wont tell me something. I could feel something churning in my stomach. I started humming a small tune, running my fingers through my long hair.

"Sakura..." Gaara's voice sounded almost hesitant. I didn't look up as I answered.

"Hmm?"

I could feel the tension started to fill the air in the room. I finally opened my eyes and sat up, looking at him with a blank face. Something bad was coming. Panic started filling my heart.

"What is it, Gaara?" My voice was calm, something that surprised me. My insides were twisting and turning, trying to jump out my throat. You couldn't tell from looking at me.

He was glaring at his feet, his teeth moving along each other, I could hear the grinding sound from across the room. He took a deep breath and looked up at me, moving closer to the bed. I scooted over a little so that he could sit next to me. "We're leaving. Me, Temari, and Kankuro. And we are taking Aurora with us." He said without meeting my eyes. I could feel the air stuck in my throat. "There are just some things that can't be explained." He finally looked up at me, eyes guarded.

`"Why, Gaara? Why?" I begged, almost at tears. I could feel them scraping the back of my eyes, begging to be released.

"It's the way it has to be, Sakura." He whispered, looking down, not meeting my eyes as he stood from the edge the bed. "I'm sorry."

"Please, don't do this to me, please!" I tried again, throwing the blankets off of me, quickly getting to my feet. "Not now, please!"

"I'm sorry." He whispered again, walking towards the door.

"You're a coward!" I yelled, the tears finally coming down my cheeks. "Fine, leave! I don't want you here anyway! Run away from everything like always!" He stopped and glanced back at me, I could clearly see the pain on his face, but I couldn't stop. The words tumbled from my mouth before I could even think about what I was about to say... "I hate you."

"I know." A whisper so small I could barely hear it.

He was gone. Gone from sight, gone from the room, gone from my life. Gone forever. Never coming back.

I crumpled to the ground, screaming as loud as I could. Nurses rushed in, trying to help me, but I didn't move. I could feel Tsunade's sad eyes on me from the door... I screamed louder.

Someone shoved a needle into my arm. I could start to feel the drugs pulling me into a sleepless mode. He was leaving me. He was leaving and taking my baby away. I could feel myself breaking. I was on the ground, sobs still coming out strong. I could see her tiny form in the glass box. I tried reaching out to her, tried to grab her, but she was gone. Faded away. Gone from sight, gone from my life. The blackness took over.


	14. Forever Broken

Chapter 13, Forever Broken.

They kept me in the hospital for three months after that day. They said I was going insane, talking to myself as if Gaara was really there, going to the now empty room where they once held my daughter. Tsunade fought to keep me out of the metal hospital, saying that she could help me, when in truth, no one could ever help me. Mother and Mike stayed with me the whole time. Their sad eyes watched as I slept, as I dreamed the nightmares of the truth.

That I was alone.

Alone and forever broken.

Dead.

After they released me from Tsunade's care, Mother kept talking about dragging me off to where she lives, telling me that I wouldn't have to see anything that would remind me of what happened. Half wanted to stay, wanted to remember his face, her bright red hair. But the other half was opening her arms for the freedom from the nightmares, from the pain.

– – –

I'm sitting in the plane, fingering my gold locket as I stared out the window. We were starting to descend. Spiraling down to the large airport of New York. I wore a white sun dress that stopped at my knees, something mother picked up for me before we left my home town. Before we left everything behind, without so much as a good-bye. Someone's hand rested on top of mine, I looked over to my left and smiled at Ino. She and Kiba had decided to come with us to New York. To start college at the same place. When they left us, her crush on Kankuro had vanished as fast as it came. She never talked about him, and I was grateful for that. She had on a similar dress as mine, but a light purple color.

Once the plane had stopped, and the stairs were rolled up to the side of the great bird, we all stood and made our way off. Grandmother and Grandfather were waiting for us as we left the plane. We all got hugs, then were ushered back to the building so that they could get ready for the next flight that was going to leave in a few minutes. We made it to Grandmother's house within an hour, we were staying there for a night or two, to wait for our next plane to Miami where Mother and Mike's apartment was.

Ino and I sat out side eating a box of ice-cream for who knows how long that night. She finally said she was going to head off to bed around midnight, I said okay and took the almost gone box of ice-cream from her. She laughed and went inside, quietly shutting the door behind her.

I sighed and took another bite of the cold chocolate goodness, looking up towards the sky. Stars were poking out from the dark blue ocean. A soft wisp of white trailed over the stars, tucking them in a thin blanket of clouds. A soft breeze carried over the city, blowing my, now short, pink hair around my face. I had cut it a few weeks ago, it was getting to long and got in the way to much.

"Sakura?" I turned slightly to see grandmother sitting down beside me. "Why aren't you sleeping, sweetheart?" She asked, her voice soft as she brushed a lock of my hair behind my ear.

"I could ask you the same." I whispered, giving her a small smile. "I don't sleep, Grammy. Haven't in months."

She gave me a sad smile and nodded, taking something out from her pocket. It was a notebook. The cover had a beautiful flower drawn on it. "This is for you, Sakura." She handed it to me, pulling out a small drawing kit to go along with the notebook.

I took them and smiled up at her. "Thank you." I gave her a hug before she could stand.

"Good-night, my granddaughter." She said, her hand running through my chin length hair before she went back inside.

– – –

The notebook was half full with random drawings by the time we made it to mother's house. I drew anything and everything that caught my eye, even for a split second. Ino was getting tired of having to wait every time I saw a flower, or a bug that was in the perfect place. We spent an hour at a fountain so that I could sketch it. I was still shading it in, just from memory.

Mother's apartment had two bedrooms. Mike and her were sharing the master bedroom, me and Ino the other. Kiba said that he could crash on the couch. I helped Ino make him his bed, then we both went to our room to decide on who gets what bed. I ended up winning the one by the window in a game of rock-paper-scissors-shoe. There was a split closet, so there was no problem there. We both made our beds and put our clothes away, kicking Kiba's bag into a corner. He had to keep all of his things in here so that no one tripped over anything.

Ino laid down on her bed and closed her eyes with a sigh. I sat by my window drawing the full moon that was hiding behind the many buildings. After a few minutes, Ino's soft snore carried over to me. I stared at her for a few moments before getting up and going over to toss a small blanket over her slim form. We would start classes tomorrow.

– – –

Ten years.

It's been ten years since that day. Since the day that I was left all alone. Ten years since my heart was ripped from my body, and torn to shreds by the man I thought I had once loved. The man I had once thought loved me.

Ino was already out of college, I still had a few more years. I was going for twelve years. Ino and Kiba had an apartment of their own now, living a few blocks away from me. I had my own, it got a little uncomfortable living with mom and Mike after their wedding. They were all love-y dove-y with each other. It made me sick a few times, literally. I had a small two bedroom apartment. One room for me, the other for my work desk, computer, etc. Kiba had got a small dog, the runt. He was now huge. Almost as big as a horse if you ask me. Kiba named him Akamaru. He was really sweet, though. And he cleaned up after Kiba. Ino loves him.

I had a small cat to keep me company. Akamaru didn't bother her, and she loves him. So, all in all... I'm miserable. I can't sleep. I can barely eat. And I'm becoming a workaholic. Ino had to take Princess away for a little while because I would forget to feed her, or forget to even come home after my shift at the hospital. There was just so much work to do. Mike and Mom just remind me of what Gaara and I had. Which reminded me of Aurora, which reminded me of how he left, taking her with him. I often found an empty room in the hospital and cried. Naruto and Hinata left five messages each on my answer machine a day, telling me how they were, which I asked them to do before I moved away. I've called Hinata back a few times, she was pregnant. Kiba had laughed when we were talking over Web-cam at his apartment. She had turned the deepest color of red. I had thrown-up later that night remembering the color of Gaara's hair, the color of my daughter's hair.

– – –

Ten and a half years. That's how long its been now. I marked off another day on my calender.

"Sakura?" Ino called from my door.

"Kitchen!" I called back, walking back to the counter where my toast sat, untouched. I had made it an hour ago, I didn't want it, but Ino got mad if she had to clean my cupboards out of rotten food more then once a month. "What's up?" I said when she entered, I was sipping my steaming coffee, the only thing I could keep down.

"You are going with me to a concert. Ah!" She held her hand up as I was about to object. "Nope! You are going, Sakura. Whether I have to drag you there kicking and screaming, cause you know I will." I gave her a weak glare and tossed the uneaten toast in the trash. "You need to eat, Sakura." she sighed, leaning against the small wooden table I had pushed against the corner of the room.

"I'm not hungry." I whispered, setting my empty mug down in the sink. I would need to do dishes soon. "I'm not going." I grabbed my lab coat and was about to walk out when she started talking again.

"I already called in that you were sick. They said to make you take a few days off. They need to build up more work for you to do." Her voice was playful, but I knew she was serious.

"I'm still going in. I need to check on that women... and that child..." I was falling.

"Sakura!" Ino grabbed me just before I could crash into the wall. "You are going to bed, that's what you are going to do!" she screamed, helping me down the hall to my room, me weakly trying to object.

– – –

So, here I am. A day later at a roaring loud concert with Ino and Kiba.

I hadn't cut my hair recently, so it was longer then normal, down to just below my shoulders. I had kept it chin length for years. Ever since I moved away from Konoha. I had on a tight dark blue shirt that Ino had made me wear, along with tight light blue pants and a pair of shoes of my choice, black and white sneakers. She had rolled her eyes when she saw them, but didn't argue. She knew it was no use, I would simply say I wouldn't go if she had told me to change them, and she knew that I wouldn't have gone.

I was holding tightly to her hand as Kiba pulled us threw the crowd to where our seats were. I was laughing as he growled at some guy who had grabbed Ino's butt. We both had to push him away, fearing that the other guy might end up under my care at the hospital. We finally got to our seats after wrestling our way from the entrance. Ino said that this band was the most popular today, I thought it was okay, for metal that is. I've always liked a little bit of metal, but mostly liked rock. I've heard a few of the songs playing on a CD Kiba always had going at their apartment.

A flash of something caught my eye from just below the stage. I tried looking over the heads that were in front of me, someone was standing in the front row. Another flash brought my eyes to the back, that person was leaving. I told Ino and Kiba I had to go to the bathroom, that I would be right back. Ino had asked to go with me, but I told her no, that I was fine. I started running after the flash. I pushed people out of my way, I could see the color clearly now. Red. Flaming red. My heart skipped a beat as I started running fast, calling out to that person to stop.

They stopped, spinning around to face me. My heart stopped at that very moment. I had called out Gaara's name. I had yelled for Gaara, yet... this girl stopped and turned to face me.

She was pale, very pale. She couldn't have been older then ten or eleven. Her flaming red hair hung loosely down her back and over one of her shoulders. Her bright green eyes were curious, if a little defensive. She was looking me up and down, probably seeing is she remembered me. I smiled at her, reaching my hand out to her, she took a step back, glancing behind her, she was looking for someone.

"Aurora..." I whispered, my heart was pounding in my chest.

"How do you know my name?" She asked, glancing behind herself again. Her voice was soft, it sounded like bells. A sweet sound, so sweet.

"Aurora, let's go." A deep voice said, the person coming from between two people out into view. My heart stopped for the second time today. "We are running out of time." He took her hand in his, about to walk away without giving me a glance. He hadn't seen me.

"Gaara?" My voice was squeaky. The man's head shot up at me, his jade eyes growing big at seeing me. "It is you." I whispered, blinking tears from my eyes.

"Daddy? Who is she?" Aurora asked, clutching to her father's arm. She looked up at him, but then back to me.

"You... you don't know who I am?" I asked, looking back at Gaara. "You never told her?"

"Aurora, go to the car. Temari is waiting for us." Gaara said, pulling her behind him. "I'll be there shortly." She stared at me, but nodded and started turning away.

"Why haven't you told her?" I asked, pain was filling my body again. I was starting to go numb. "Where's the locket that Mike gave her?" It hadn't been around her neck.

"She doesn't know of you for a reason, Sakura." He said, his voice deeper then I remembered, eyes harder.

"Now that I know she's alive, I'll never stop looking for her, Gaara. I will have my daughter back." The tears were now spilling from my eyes. "She will know who her mother is."

"Why do you think I haven't told her?" He asked, crossing his arms over his chest. "She wouldn't stop until she found you." He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "She is dangerous for you, Sakura. You can not be around her."

"Why not?" I challenged, standing straight.

"Some things cannot be explained." He said in a low voice, I could barely hear it over the cheering of the crowd that was behind me. He took one last look at me before turning and walking away.

"Don't do this!" I screamed after him, starting to run for him again. Memories from the first time he left filled my head.

"Sakura?" Ino's voice came from behind me, I glanced back at her, she started running when she saw my tears. I quickly looked back for Gaara, but he was already gone. "What happened?" She asked, grabbing my hands and turning me to face her.

"Gaara..." I whispered. She gasped and started looking around behind me. "She doesn't know me." Was the last thing I uttered before I collapsed. I faintly remember Kiba lifting me and taking me to the car, Ino following.


	15. I should have told you

**Sorry about the little wait everyone, but it wouldn't let me log in for a few days!! Plus, we lost power for a few nights, and I lost half of this chapter because of it!! I redid it all, but it's not as good as the other one... sigh... Oh well, let me know how you like it!! **

Chapter 14, I Should Have Told You.

(GAARA'S POV!!)

Why was she there? Why was she at that concert? The first one I allow Aurora to go to, and this happens. I sighed and dropped my shirt to the floor, climbing in my bed, facing the ceiling. She's never going to another. Sakura had looked horrible. Skinnier then a toothpick, skin paler then paper. Her hair was still that pink color, but it was like someone had stripped it from it's bright playfulness that it used to have. Her eyes were dull, but slowly brightening as she stared at me. Those eyes have haunted me since I first saw her those two nights ago.

Why Aurora had stopped to talk to her, out of all the people there, it had to be her, was beyond me. She said that the women with pink hair had yelled my name. She stopped to see who it was.

I sighed and ran my fingers through my red hair, rubbing the black circle's that were around my eyes, the same ones Sakura was starting to get. I growled and tossed a pillow across the room, knocking over a lamp and shattering the bulb. I fell back against the bed and closed my eyes, taking a deep breath.

My door cracked open, I didn't move. Maybe they'd go away.

"Daddy?" Aurora's soft voice carried over to me. "I can't sleep." She whispered, I could hear the slight tremor in her voice, another nightmare probably.

"Come here." I said, waving her over. She let out a small breath and quietly shut the door, tiptoeing over to my bed where she climbed up and snuggled into my side. I rubbed her back as she rested her head on my chest, I could faintly feel the wetness on her cheek from the tears. "What's wrong, Aurora?" I whispered, tucking her long red hair behind her ear.

"I... who was that women? The one from the concert?"

Well, I hadn't been expecting that. But, wasn't I just thinking about her, too? I sighed and started rubbing her back again. If I tell her, she would want to know everything about her. About her mother. I don't ever remember Aurora asking once about her mother, if she ever had one. She must know that her eyes must have been from her mother, no one in our family had the same ones. Or even close to that bright emerald color. Temari had told me that she had never heard anything about Sakura when I told her we saw her at the concert. Sakura had asked about that gold locket her mother's husband had given them. It was tucked safely away in a box under my bed. Somewhere Aurora would never find it.

"She's someone I should have told you about a long time ago." I whispered, moving to sit up. She stayed on the bed as I slung my legs over the side and rubbed my face. "Her name is Hanuro Sakura. I went to high school with her. She had been dating the school's prize, Uchiha Sasuke, the schools quoter back. She was so happy then. Her smiles could brighten anyone's day, just one look at her and your heart would melt. We got assigned a project together, that's how we met. If it wasn't for that one class, we would have never spoken. She just stopped talking one day. No one knew what happened, or wouldn't speak of it. She didn't talk to me, no one. She stared at her feet as she walked, never looking up. I started seeing bruises on her after a few days. They were getting darker, and she was getting a small limp in her walk. Her Father would beat her," I heard a small gasp from Aurora at this. "he was a bad man. Sakura started getting better, despite the beatings she received. Temari had told me to go pick up one of her new friends for dinner on night, never in the universe would I have even guessed it to be Sakura. We got to know each other better after that, we even started dating. She spent most of the days and nights at our old house, the one Kankuro lives in now.

"I let her stay home one night, telling her to call me if anything happened, her father was home that night. Well, I got that call and rushed over, even though she told me nothing was wrong, I could still hear the panic in her voice. I never would have guessed what she told me that night..." My voice trailed off, remembering the tears that had been running down her voice when she told me she was pregnant.

"What? What did she tell you?" Aurora asked, sitting up and hugging her knees to her chest, she was really into the story.

"That's she was pregnant."

Aurora gasped. "No!" she breathed out, I smiled and shook my head. She's such a girl.

"I kept her even closer then before, never letting her spend one night over that house alone. I had our old friend, Naruto and his girlfriend Hinata, helping me keep her safe during school. They didn't know what was going on, or at least I thought that then. Hinata had known all along, she guessed and was right. Well, Sakura told me that her father was gone for the next few days on a business trip. It took her hours of reasoning to get me to leave her alone for one night. I still didn't like the idea, but promised her I would. Well, in the morning I got a text from her, saying that she had a ride to school, and that she didn't need me to pick her up. It wasn't until half way through the day when I realized that she still wasn't there. I had left school and went to her house, Naruto and Hinata following behind me. We looked everywhere for her, Hinata found her barely alive in her room. Her father had come home and beat her, stabbing her twice. She was in a coma for weeks. Everyone was sure she would never wake up again, but she did."

"Wait..." Aurora interrupted the story and looked up at me. "What about the baby? Did it die?"

I chuckled softly. Such a clueless girl. "No, the baby didn't not die." I looked at her as I continued. "There was a women named Tsunade. She was the school principle, but also the worlds best doctor, that is still true to this day. She helped Sakura and the baby. Tsunade made a machine that kept the child alive so that it could grow. Sakura's mother's husband, Mike, he gave both of them a locket. Sakura's had an "S" engraved on the front, the other had and "A"." I slid from the bed and reached under, pulling out the box. I took off the lid and stared down at the few pictures I had. A few of just Sakura, and one of the both of us. I reached for the smaller box that was in the box and opened it, pulling out a small gold chain. "This is yours, I should have given it to you awhile ago." I handed it to her, staying on my knees on the floor, watching her reaction.

Aurora turned the locket and chain over in her hands, studying it. When she saw the "A" on the front of the heart, she gasped and looked up at me, quickly looking down as she opened the heart. Her finger brushed over the picture that was set in it, I could see the tears welling in her eyes. "I was that baby..." She whispered. "That's my mom... She was right there, and I never knew it." She opened the locket and stared at the picture for a few seconds, then looked up at me with tears in her eyes. "Sakura's really my mom?"

"Sakura is you mom, that is true." I whispered, resting my head on the bed. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you."

"Why? Why didn't you?"

"Because, we are different then other people, Aurora." I whispered, rubbing my eyes.

"You think I would hurt her..."

"Not on purpose." I said quickly, looking up at her. "I know you would never mean to, but, I didn't know how you would turn out. I didn't want you being like me when I was a child. I couldn't let that happen and her getting hurt. I knew you would never be able to live with the guilt of having killed your own mother like I did."

"Daddy... I'm not mad. I understand." She crawled over to me and wrapped her arms around my neck, I could feel her tears. "Can I see her?"

"No." I sighed. "No, you can not see her." Aurora pulled back and stared at me in the eyes.

"I want to." She said sternly.

I sighed and rubbed my face again, I seemed to be doing that a lot. A image that I tried to forget made itself known as I looked into my daughter's bright green eyes. Sakura sat before me, telling me that I needed to back off at school, that I needed to give her a little space. It flipped to one when we were taking a walk in the back gardens outside of my old house. The next was of her smiling and reaching up to kiss me. I shook my head, trying to rid of those pictures, but one stayed. One would not leave, and that was the one of her crying when I told her I was leaving. The one where she said "I hate you." I closed my eyes and opened them again, it was Aurora in front of me again. "No." I breathed out, standing. "Go back to bed, we are leaving in the morning."

"Where?"

"We are going to visit Uncle Kankuro."

– – –

When we got to my old house, I was amazed with how much everything was the same. Kankuro hadn't changed a thing. Temari squealed and ran straight up, pulling my daughter along with her to show her around, she was happy to be home. I stood just below the steps looking up at the house. I slowly jogged up the steps and in the front door.

Temari was walking up the stairs with Aurora looking around, following behind her. I could hear plates being moved around from the kitchen, probably Kankuro. A shattering sound and cursing proved my theory. I smirked and shook my head, going up the stairs after them, but taking a left instead of the right they took. My foot steps echoed off the walls as I walked, I could already see the dust that had settled in my wing of the house. I reached the door in a matter of seconds, an old habit of coming here instead of my actual bedroom had formed when Sakura was with us still. I stared at the door handle for who knows how long, but I swear there was dust settling on my shoulder by the time I finally reached out and opened the door.

Light flowed in from the glass walls, making the place very bright. The flowers that were carved into the glass sent different color patterns everywhere, twisting and turning over the bed and night stand in the corner of the room. I shut the door and walked over to it, laying down with my face pushed into the pillow, it still smelled like her. The soft strawberry cent filled my nose, making me instantly relax. I turned my head to the side to stare at the wall of glass that I had built with my own two hands. It had taken a long time, about three months. I started it when we first moved here, and finished it a little before Sakura first came over, working on it every night.

I had never gotten the chance to get her father for what he did. He had been gone the whole time she was in the hospital, plus I refused to leave her side. I still had that itching burn to smash his skull into pieces.

"Gaara?" I glanced towards the door to see Kankuro coming in. "Dinner's ready if you want to eat. Just come on down." I gave a nod and waited for him to leave before sitting up. Kankuro had cooked. That was more scary then Temari cooking.

Everyone was seated and waiting for me when I got down stairs, Aurora was talking with my brother and laughing as they argued over his dolls. I took a seat in front of Temari, the seat that had always been mine, the seat to my left was open, missing a pink haired girl. Aurora was sitting next to Temari, Kankuro at the head of the table, between me and Temari. There was pizza on the table, I rolled my eyes. Kankuro was to lazy to cook, go figure.

About halfway through my meal I started having those pictures flash in my head again. Sakura getting on the back of my old bike. Sakura laughing at something Naruto had done. Sakura fussing over a small paper cut on my finger. Sakura kissing me with her all. Sakura laying underneath me, hair sticking to her forehead. Sakura with her bruises. Sakura as her stomach was starting to bulge. Sakura when we found her half dead in her room covered in blood. Sakura in a coma, Sakura waking up. Sakura breaking down the first time she saw our daughter. Sakura crying when I left. Sakura, Sakura, Sakura. They were all of her. I found myself staring at my daughter, staring into her confused emerald eyes.

I stood and walked towards the door, grabbing a jacket on the way out. I faintly heard Aurora ask what she did wrong as I shut the door.

The air was chilly, not cold, but chilly enough to want to stay inside. Fog clung to the ground, making dusk look even darker. Clouds were threatening to let rain fall down upon the world, they were dark and heavy looking. I pulled the hood around my face just encase it did star while I was on my walk to who knows where. Aurora looked to much like her mother, it kills me to look into her eyes, knowing what I had done to Sakura. There was a bridge coming up, leading to the side where the school was, maybe I'd go check out any new changes there, visit the place where Sakura and I hung out every day during lunch. I started walking up the bridge, there was someone looking over the river in the middle. I was to them now, walking past,as I pulled my hood over my head, but something pink blowing in the slight breeze made me stop.

We both stood there, not looking at the other. I stared at my feet, she stared out over the river.

"I didn't think you would come back." I whispered, glancing in her direction.

"I didn't think you would either." She whispered back, her voice sounding just like I remembered. She didn't move, but the wind tossed her chin length hair about. She was wearing a tank top, and a pair of blue jeans. She was still very skinny, but her skin had more color to it, but that could be just because of the wind.

"Why are you here?" I asked, turning to fully face her. She didn't move, didn't speak. "Sakura, what are you doing here?" I asked again, a little louder encase she didn't hear me. She still didn't move.

"Why didn't you ever tell her about me?" She finally whispered after a little bit. "I'm her mother. And don't tell me she never asked you once who her mother is." Her voice wavered at the end.

"I wont. Because she did, almost every week." I said back, taking a step closer. "Not everything can be explained."

"Then you better start trying." She said, finally looking at me. "Because I will not let you walk out of my life with her again." Her cheeks had wet marks running down them, eyes a little red and puffy. "You will not take her away from me again." A gust of wind blew, making her hair cross her face and tangle with her tears.

I just stood there, staring at the women in front of me. Ten years ago I would have fallen at her knees when she cried, begging her not to. Ten years ago, and I wouldn't have been the one to cause those tears. So much had happened in ten years. I was a whole different person. So is she. She had her left wrist taped up, a small blood patch circling her knuckles. There was a loud boom from above, the rain started out light, but got harder quickly. Neither of us moved, we just stared into the others eyes, waiting.

– – –

(SAKURA'S POV!!)

"I didn't think you would come back." He whispered from behind me. The tears were falling again, I didn't move, I didn't want him to see me weak anymore. I could feel his eyes on my back, it was a warm crawling feeling. I didn't like it.

"I didn't think you would either." I whispered, thankful that my voice didn't waver. The wind was blowing my hair around my face, making me close my eyes. I was freezing, it was stupid to take a walk without my jacket. The thin material of my tank top did nothing against the gusting winds. After seeing him at the concert, knowing that he was my baby were alive and close, was enough for me to come to my sense. I started eating more, my color was coming back. I was still extremely skinny, but I was healthier then before.

"Why are you here?" He asked, the shuffling of his feet let me know that he was now fully looking at me. I stayed silent, fearing that my voice would crack with all of the different emotions that were tossing and turning inside of my body. "Sakura, what are you doing here?" He asked a little louder. So he thinks I'm an idiot, I thought bitterly. An image of Aurora with her confused eyes danced before mine.

"Why didn't you tell her about me?" I asked after I was sure my voice wouldn't waver or crack. "I'm her mother. And don't tell me she never once asked who her mother is." My voice cracked at the end, I swore in the back of my mind, the tears started spilling, I tried to keep them back, but it was no use. The dam had burst.

"I wont. Because she did, almost every week." It felt like my heart was shredding more then it was already. She had asked about me, more then once, and he never told her who I am, not once, not a hint. I heard him take a step closer, I wanted to throw up. "Not everything can be explained." I wanted to punch him so hard. He really thought I was stupid, an idiot.

"Then you better start trying." I said, looking towards him, I felt his eyes roaming over my wet cheeks. "Because I will not let you walk out of my life with her again. You will not take her from me again." I whispered. A sudden gust of wind made my hair fly about my face, some strands sticking to where my tears ran.

I could feel my hand starting to ache, it was stupid to have hit Kiba so hard when he was just trying to help me. He was trying to keep me from coming here, I had hit him because he grabbed my arm when I told him that I was leaving. I felt a tiny bit guilty, but now I was glad that I came back to this town. I was surprised that I didn't jump when the thunder sounded, sending rain down upon the earth. The drops got bigger by the second, drenching me whole. Neither of us moved, waiting for the other. Just waiting, and staring. I felt like an idiot, I should have grabbed my jacket.

Car lights moved across both of our bodys, I could feel my hair sticking to my face as I turned to see who was getting out and running towards us. They had an umbrella, blond hair bouncing our from under it. I gave Ino a weak smile as she stopped in front of me, catching the rain with the purple umbrella as she yelled at me for not having a coat. She took hers and slung it over my shoulders, starting to pull me away when she noticed the man standing a few feet away with a black hood covering his hair and face.

"Can I help you?" She said a little rudely. Gaara shook his head and started walking back the way he came from, I watched him go. "How rude." Ino grumbled, pulling me towards the car that Kiba waited in.

– – –

Ino made me sit on the couch and drink a full cup of tea before she would let me do anything. I had been so close, but there was no arguing with Ino about staying in the rain without anything on. She would not have been this nice if she knew I was talking to Gaara, she hated him. She hates him because of what he did to me, leaving like he did, and taking my daughter away like that.

"Here, Sakura." I looked up as Hinata set a tray of cookies in front of me.

"Thank you." I whispered, giving her a smile as I took one.

We were staying with Hinata and Naruto at the Hyguua estate. Hinata had taken over as the Hyguua family's head when her father passed away, and after her cousin Neji had turned it down. She said that it wasn't as hard as she had thought it would be, and that she loved it. People depended on her, looked up to her. That's all she's really wanted from life. She even lost her small stutter. I was beyond surprised when we got here, seeing the rock that was sitting on her ring finger, and the baby bump that she hid under her shirt. She was five months pregnant. And with twins!

After Ino said I was fine to do what I wanted, I went up to my room. I hadn't unpacked yet, but we've been here for a few days, and were staying here until after new years eve. It was a few weeks until Christmas, I had one whole trunk full of the gifts I was planning on giving my old friends. Ino and I had gone on a small shopping spree before we flew in, making Kiba carry all of our heavy bags.

I went over to the closet where I had hid one bag. It was a walk in, I had to turn on the light so that I could find the spot in the wall where I hid the small velvet bag. In the way back of the closet was a small air duct. I pulled off the vent and reached my hand in, easily grabbing the small bag. I pulled it out and replaced the vent, sitting against the wall as I stared at the bag that was now sitting on my lap. With a deep breath, I loosened the draw strings and carefully tipped the bag to the side, pulling out a perfectly carved glass rose.

I turned it over in my hands and traced each and every line that was in the perfect place, making its beauty stand out even more.


	16. I'm here

**Thanks to all of you who reviewed!! And sorry that it took me awhile to get this chapter done! I've been going through a small writers block!! Well, here you all go, and I would LOVE it if you reviewed!!! =)**

Chapter 15, I'm here.

I walked down the stairs in the morning, my hair pulled back with a few clips. Hinata and Naruto sat at the table, along with Ino. I was surprised to see TenTen and Neji sitting there also, TenTen jumped up and ran over to me, pulling me into a tight hug, with her jumping up and down, saying how much she missed me. I hugged her back, giving Hinata a playful glare for not warning me.

TenTen dragged us girls out to the mall, the guys hanging around the house playing some video games. Sakura had to get resized in almost everything because she had gotten so skinny. Ino pulled her into Victoria's secret, they got three bags full of things. After going into some shop with weapons with TenTen, we all went to get something to eat.

I took a sip of my coke, trying not to burst out laughing at something Ino just said about Kiba.

"So, Sakura..." TenTen said, leaning forward on her arms. "Seen anyone _interesting_?" TenTen drug out the word, wiggling her eyebrows at me.

I raised an eyebrow at her, taking a small bite of the pizza that was sitting on my plate. My mind went straight to last night when I was talking with Gaara on the bridge. "Well..." I whispered when I realized they were still waiting for an answer. "I... okay, there is this... one... guy." I said slowly, looking up at them. Ino had her mouth dropped. "What?"

"Is it that guy that was on the bridge with you last night?!" She asked in a hushed voice, leaning closer. Now everyone was staring at me with their mouths dropped. Basically, since I moved away from this place, I haven't even noticed the male population of the world. I hadn't looked at or even flirted with any guy that had shown interest in me. I had even gone as far as wearing a ring on my finger to avoid the men at the hospital. "Sakura..." she said after I didn't say anything back, her bright blue eyes were full of curiosity, and happiness. "who was he?"

– –

(GAARA'S POV!!)

"Are you sure, daddy?" Aurora asked for the fifteenth time.

"Yes."

She still stood there, I could feel her. Then her feet shuffled away, pausing at the door.

Since I came home last night, I haven't moved from the couch where I lay with my arms crossed behind my head, and my eyes closed. I don't know what to think, really. Seeing her again... after the concert she had been in my thoughts more and more, but now she is my only thought. Her and Aurora. Aurora and her. I could already feel the life long headache coming on.

"Daddy... weird... happened?" Aurora's faint whispers came from the kitchen, where she was with Kankuro. I tried to listen in closer.

"... Hard time... someone he... know... her very... a long time... more then..." Was Kankuro's cut up reply.

"Who... she?... Name?"

"I... know if... you... Temari's better... upstairs don't... Gaara.... ice-cream...." Now, I'm confused. What does this have to do with "ice-cream"? My eyes shot open in realization.

"Kankuro!" I bellowed as I jumped up from the couch and raced into the kitchen, and sure enough, there was the doll user with a spoon full of _my ice-cream_ halfway to his mouth. Aurora giggled and ran from the room, heading for the stairs. I pounced on Kankuro and tried to get my _favorite_ ice-cream from him.

– –

"Yeah?" I opened the door and quietly slipped in. Aurora was sitting up on her bed with a book sitting on her raised knees. She gave me a smile as I walked over to her. "Hey, Daddy."

I sat down on the bed next to her and looked at the book her was reading. _Great, he's teaching her how to use those damn dolls_, was the only thought I had on the matter. Kankuro could do what he wanted in his free time. "What were you talking about with Kankuro earlier?" I asked, my voice even, no emotion.

"Nothing really." She had the same level voice. No surprise there, she grew up with me using it.

"Didn't seem like nothing when you ran to go talk to Temari about it." I sighed and leaned against the headboard, letting her rest her head on me as I ran my fingers through her bright red hair. "I can always pry it out of them if I have to, but I thought that it would be better if you told me... you know, save them some pain." I smirked when she gave me a small glare.

"I was just... asking why you were all "no talky, no listening to you right now-y" earlier. Uncle Kankuro told me to go ask Aunt Temari, so I did... all I got from the both of them is that it's about a girl." She sighed and wrapped her arms around me, closing her eyes as the book fell from the bed. After a small pause she spoke again. "Are they talking about mommy? Did you see her again?" She whispered.

I didn't answer. I just looked around my old room, it was just the way I left it. Deep crimson walls, black desk off in a corner, my dresser on a wall, a tall lamp by the king size bed. But the curtains that covered the window wall were open. Aurora must have done that. I made sure they were closed before I left with Temari and my daughter. I could see the thick layer of dust that was sitting on parts of the wooden floor, some where words were drawn into them, and others pictures and foot prints.

"Daddy?" I looked down to meet Aurora's bright eyes, that had a sad tint to them. "Do you not want me to meet mom?" She asked in a small whisper, tears rimming her emerald eyes.

"That's not it... I..." I sighed and shook my head, closing my eyes. "Go to sleep." I moved from her arms and stood from the bed, grabbing the book. "Good-night." I placed it on the night stand and moved towards the door, just as I was about to shut it, there was a small whisper from inside.

"I wont hurt her... I can control myself." I closed the door to my old room.

– –

"Hey." I glanced behind me, and sure enough, there was Sakura sitting on the bleachers where we used to sit in high school. She gave me a small tired smile then looked back down at the stick between her fingers, a small spiral of smoke coming from it. She brought it to her lips and took a long drag, holding it in for a few seconds before letting it out, the smoke spiraled towards the dark sky.

I sat down next to her, taking the stick from her as she offered it, taking a longer drag then she had. It's been awhile since I've had the good stuff. People say pot's good for the soul, I say it's just plain good.

– –

(SAKURA'S POV!!!)

I wasn't to, to surprised to see him here, just a little. He just stood there staring at me while I smoked the little amount of pot I had been able to swipe off Kiba last night. I handed it to him when he sat down next to me. I had come out here to think, to think about how things had turned out since high school, since I first met this man beside me. So many things had happened, in such little time.

We used to have fun out of these bleachers, talking to each other like there wasn't a care in the world. We used to be happy. I would forget everything thats happened in my life when ever he was near. I never wanted to let him go. He told me he would never leave, he promised. But then he left, taking my heart and life with him. My life that had been bundled in pink, but was now a grown child. I saw Aurora's confused face from when I saw her at the concert flash before me like she was really there. I took another drag. The smoke made my throat itch, but it felt good none the less.

The rain started up again, pouring down hard on us out of no where. I let Gaara finish smoking the rolled up pot. I stared out aimlessly at the football field that was in front of me.

"Gaara..." He inclined his head to show me he was listening. Just like old times... "that day at the hospital... why was Sasuke there?"

He shrugged. "Never really said."

I nodded, but knew he couldn't see it. That wasn't what I was going to ask, but I didn't want him to see me cry again. I knew he would be able to tell the difference between my tears and the rain. And, I hated it. It seems like everything I used to like about him, his smell, how he carries himself, like he owns the world, how his red hair falls over the scar on his forehead, I hate it all now. I hate the way he looks at me, the way he just stares and doesn't say anything. I hate how he can just sit here and not know what he's doing to me. I hate that he can't hear my pleads for him to never leave again. I hate the way I still love him. I hate how my heart aches to reach out and touch him. I hate him. I want him to leave. But I will die if he does. I hate how he still controls my life, and without even knowing it.

I was soaked to the bone by now. The rain was getting harder, but here we still sat. Neither of us talking. The rain was the only sound. It was relaxing, but also annoying. Why isn't he talking to me? Does he still think I'm an idiot? That I shouldn't talk because I might get "confused"? I could feel the anger raising in my like a dry corn field set on fire in dead summer. I pushed it down the bottle and closed the cap. I can't show any of the effects he has on me. I can't let him know how much I still need him.

He moved, and I looked up.

Our lips moved as one, hands pulling the other closer still. I ended up in his lap with his arms around me, pulling me closer still. Oh, how I missed this. They way he kisses me. The way his arms are tightly wrapped around me. Shit, the tears were falling down my face, mixing with the water from the sky. I locked my hands in his blood red hair, pulling his mouth closer to mine as much as I could. His hands tightened around my hips, pulling them closer to his, I gasped as he ground into me.

"Daddy?!" I gasped and pulled away from Gaara, him looking down towards the field below us.

"Aurora..." My head snapped towards the other person when I heard his whisper, and sure enough, there stood my daughter with a umbrella, running towards us. I could tell its her because of the same color hair as Gaara flew out in the wind that was accompanying the rain. I stood off Gaara when she started up the bleachers, waving. Gaara stood and started walking away from me, down to her. I was frozen where I was. I couldn't get my feet to move.

I watched as my daughter flung her arms around him, smiling at him. I couldn't hear what they were saying over the rain, and was silently cursing the stupid falling water. Aurora nodded and started walking back down, Gaara glanced at me for a few seconds then started following her.

"Gaara! Aurora!" I yelled, finally finding my voice and legs. I ran after them. Aurora stopped and looked back at me, but Gaara tried to get her to keep walking, but once she saw me, she started to come back, struggling against Gaara. She got free once I was close, I hugged her close to me, I let the tears fall freely now. Aurora's body shook with her sobs, Gaara just stared at us.

"I'm here, I'm here. Sh, it's alright." I whispered, smoothing down her, now wet, hair. I stared at Gaara as I said it, but my arms tightened around her.

**Review please!!!**


	17. Snip Snip

**Heres the next chapter for all of you who have waited for my lazy butt to update!!!! =D!!!**

Chapter 16, Snip Snip.

"It's nice to see you again, Sakura." Temari smiled. I smiled back and hugged the other female.

"I've missed you." I sighed, looking into Temari's happy eyes. I looked back to where Gaara stood talking to our daughter. They had brought me back to Gaara's old place, now Kankuro's, to get out of the rain. "Hey, Kankuro." I gave him a small wave, he waved back.

"Mommy?" I looked back at Aurora and smiled at her. "Come on, I'll show you to my room. Aunt Temari said that it used to be Daddy's!" I smiled and let her drag me off to the stairs.

I've never been in Gaara's real room until now. It's always been the glass room that I've stayed in, Gaara almost always with me. Gaara's room is just how I imagined it to be, deep crimson walls, black desk and dresser, black bed frame with the same crimson color as the walls for his blankets, black covered pillows. Aurora went straight over to the bed and sat down, pulling something out from under it. I sat down next to her and looked at the book she was holding.

"Have you ever read this, mom?" My heart fluttered at hearing her use that word. I'm so happy to have her back. I smiled at her and looked down at the book. "Princess Bride". I smiled.

"Yes, I have. They have a movie out on it, too."

"Really?!" Aurora's face lit right up. "I want to see it then! I love this book!"

"Me, too." I smiled.

We spent the next few hours talking about what we liked and didn't like, things that creeps us out, and things that make us go all mushy inside. I loved every moment of it. I'm spending time with my daughter like I have always wanted to. There isn't anything in the world that could ruin this moment for me. Nothing. The hole in my chest was starting to heal, I can feel it.

Aurora had fallen asleep not to long ago, her head was on my shoulder with my arm around her. I had just been reading the "Princess Bride" to her when she fell asleep. We were at the part when Buttercup is riding her horse in the woods when she sees that man. That's when I found out Aurora was asleep. I smiled and set the book down, leaning my head on hers as I hummed softly, stroking her soft blood red hair.

I looked up when there was a small knock. Gaara was standing in the doorway with his arms crossed, looking at us with a blank face. I smiled and looked down at our daughter, kissing her forehead. Once I had her covered up and laying the right way, I turned back to Gaara and quietly left the room, giving my little girl one last glance before looking up at Gaara. He was staring at me with his blank face and guarded eyes. I felt my hand move without me telling it to. It went up and lightly brushed the hair out of his eyes, he had let it get longer since we were together. I brushed it back from his scar.

The movement of Gaara's arms registered in the back of my mind, but it wasn't until his hands were pulling my hips closer to his that I realized our faces were getting closer together. I kissed him lightly, a little hesitant at first. His kiss was just as hesitant as mine, then came like a slap in the face. I was yanked hard against his body, my mouth trapped against his. Not that I minded this at all, but it was a little of a shock. My arms wrapped around his neck as I kissed him back, pushing my body harder against his. That was when I was lifted in the air, with a small squeal, and my legs were wrapped tightly around his waist. He smirked and captured my lips with his as he started walking down the hall.

I knew where we were going before we even got there.

The moonlight filled the glass room, making the colors of the flowers splash over the floor. Nothing caught my attention, except the red head that was in my arms, mouth on mine, hands roaming all over my skin. Gaara's boxers were on the floor within seconds of reaching the bed. It had been so long since I have seen him like this. Since I've seen him at all. I was so happy, and I just wanted him. I want him like I've always wanted him. My want for him has never stopped, and I don't think it ever will.

I kissed him with all of my passion, and he gave it right back. I gasped at the feeling of him inside me, then moaned when he bit down on my neck. It started out slow and even, then it turned to fast and hard, just how I liked it. He remembered. He remembered all of the spots that I loved, hitting them perfectly. My nails raked down his back and he grunted, not being one to moan. I could feel the sweat beading on his skin, and licked his neck, making him grunt and go faster. My hips met his as we danced together.

– –

"Sakura!" I smiled when I looked up to see Temari coming into the kitchen. Gaara handed me a plate with a piece of toast on it and kissed my head as he went over to his daughter and gave her a plate of bacon and eggs.

"When did you learn how to cook?" I asked as I eyed my daughters food. It looked edible.. but so then Temari's half the time...

"Living with Temari makes you learn a few things." Gaara smirked, ducking in time to miss the punch that she through. Aurora just rolled her eyes and took a bite of her eggs. Gaara ruffled her hair and took a seat across from us.

I called Ino this morning, right before I left the glass room with Gaara. She now knows that Gaara is back in town, and that I'm with him. I didn't tell her where we were, because she said something about "cutting his balls off and making him watch as she puts them in the blender". Gaara had moved away from me when I was on the phone, at hearing that. I could barely hold in the laugh as I remembered it. Everyone looked at me questioningly.

"Snip snip." I mumbled, Gaara's face paled, Temari looked even more confused, and Aurora muttered something like "Don't even want to know", Kankuro paled and ran from the room screaming. Now I couldn't hold the laugh in. Gaara paled even more and set his fork down, looking like he was going to pass out.

"Okay, now you have to tell me!" Temari whispered, dragging a chair over to my side. I quickly whispered it to her, and she started laughing. "Snip snip, Gaara. Snip snip." She giggled, making her fingers look like she was cutting the air. He glared at me, hands moving to his lap. I smirked and rolled my eyes.

"Oh, god for bid that happens!" I mumbled under my breath, taking a small bite out of the toast.

BANG BANG BANG!!!!!!

"SAKURA YOU BETTER ANSWER THIS FUCKING DOOR!! I KNOW YOU ARE IN THERE!!!" Came Ino's voice. Gaara slowly crept from the room.

"I'll get it." Kankuro sighed, walking towards the door. I started going after Gaara. "What do you want-" He stopped dead in his tracks, seeing the bright blue eyes of an angle, or at least that's through his eyes. He missed the red fire that was flaming in them. "Hello." He said slowly, looking the purple clad girl up and down. "How can I help you, sweetheart?"

"Get. Out. Of. My. Way." She growled, pushing the brown haired boy from her way, a small pink blush staining her cheeks. How she missed seeing his hansom face. "SAKURA!! Or better yet... Oh, Gaara-poo!!! Where are you!!!" She laughed evilly as she walked into the house, Aurora smirked from the table and pointed up the stairs. Ino paused for a moment at seeing her. "I'll talk to you later, no going anywhere. I just have to have a small word with your... father and mother." Ino smiled sweetly, it coming out more as a evil smirk. Aurora nodded, tossing her a video camera. "Smart girl." Ino winked at Aurora then came looking for me and Gaara.

– –

"Hello?" Ino drug the word out as she peeked into the room we were hiding in. I pushed on Gaara, making him take another step back, so that his back was pressed firmly against the back of the closet. She would never find us here. "Come out, come out where ever you are!" She called out in a singing voice, looking under the bed of the glass room. I closed my eyes and turned my head into Gaara's chest. His arms held me tight to his body, we both were barely breathing, fearing that she would find us. "Found ya!" Ino tossed the closet doors open, grabbing me and Gaara by the arms and pulling us from the hiding spot.

"NO!" Gaara screamed like a little girl, the first time I have ever heard that sound come from his lips. He was dragged towards the bathroom by his ankle, Ino laughing evilly as she dragged him, telling me to go get the blender. I sweat dropped and went to save the red head, his nails were ruining the floor...

**Don't know why I picked this ending for the chapter... but.. it sets up a few things that I wanted. Kinda funny though, right? =) REVIEW PLEASE!!!!**


	18. School Fighting

**Sorry it took me a little bit to get this chapter done! I've been swarmed with homework lately, and have barely been updating my other storys! I just finished this chapter, like two seconds ago, so I'm now posting it!! I hope you like it, review please!!**

Chapter 17.

"So, how did this happen?" Ino asked, taking a small sip of her tea. "I mean, one minute you're more then half dead because of this guy, and the next second you're _sleeping with him again_?!"

I sighed and rubbed my forehead, thankful that Aurora was starting school today. Gaara was playing a video game with his brother in the other room, Temari was out looking for a new job, now that they were living here once again. Ino and I have been sitting at this table since I had pulled her off of Gaara, and that was yesterday, it was now eight in the morning, and I haven't moved from this spot once.

"Ino, we've gone over this." I sighed. "We've been talking for a few days now. I saw him the other day at the bridge, then we were talking at the football field. That's two times we've seen each other before it happened."

"Yeah! _TWO FREAKING TIMES!_" She yelled, giving me a glare. "Just you wait until I tell the others. Kiba's going to be _pissed_."

"I don't give a crap about what that stupid good for nothing, dog loving, asshole thinks!! Really, Ino, when are you going to dump his ass? It's been _way_ past due time." I stood up from the chair and walked over to the sink to put my cup down. It feels good to stretch my legs.

"Don't change the subject." Ino whispered, I could hear the pain in her voice. She knew I was right, but she doesn't want to leave Kiba, he's like one of her best friends and shes afraid that he wont be anymore if she leaves him. And, in a way, I don't want her to either. Kiba's a really nice guy, even though I hate him beyond belief, he's always there if I need someone to talk to.

"Ino, please, please, please, don't worry about what's going on with me and Gaara. I'm happy now. And I have my daughter back. I don't want any of this to change. Please just let it go."

Ino sighed and put her face in her hands. "I will... for now, anyway." She whispered, still not looking up.

The kitchen door swung open, and in came Kankuro, scratching his butt may I add. He went over to the fridge and tossed open the door, shoving his head inside. "How are you ladies doing this morning?" He asked, voice muffled by the fridge.

"Fine." I said, looking at Ino.

"G-good." I smirked. She was staring with a small blush on her cheeks. Looks like high school crushes die hard... BING! My smirk grew. I knew what to do! Just with a little help from a red head, and maybe my daughter... I left the kitchen and went over to where Gaara was playing on the X-box.

"Gaara?" I sat down on the couch behind him and put my legs on either side of him, pulling his head back so that he was looking up at me. "I need your help with something." I gave him a small smile.

"No."

"But I haven't even-"

"No. I am not doing anything that involves going in Temari's room. I've told you that before, haven't I?"

"... No... but... this has nothing to do with her. Yet, at least. I may ask for her help to. But, you love Kankuro right?" the skin eyebrow lifted. "You like him right?" Both skin eyebrows were up. "Fine then! Do it for me!" He sighed and closed his eyes.

"I'm listening."

"I want to _try_ and get Ino and Kankuro together. I saw his face when he opened the door, while we were running away from her. He was stunned. And that doesn't happen a lot to him. And, Ino was just in there staring at him with a blush! I haven't seen her blush in ages!"

"Kankuro... and Ino... I don't see it working. She's to bossy, and he's to stupid to listen to a bossy chick. He'd get his ass kicked within two hours of them dating." He opened one eye and looked at me. "Plus, doesn't she have a boyfriend?"

"Yes, but hes more like a brother, or best friend, to her, and me. I'm going to talk to Kiba and see what he thinks about Ino. We've all changed so much since high school... some for better, and some for worst." I whispered the last part. I looked away from his eyes, then looked back with a small smile. "Please? I want my friend to be happy, this is the least I can do for her, after all she's done for me... Please, Gaara? I need your help."

He sighed again and his eye drifted closed. "You made me lose." I looked up at the game, and sure enough, the bad guys were dancing on his dead body.

"You suck at Halo anyway. It's nothing big. Please?"

"Fine, as long as it doesn't involve going near Temari's room..." He shivered, yes, _the_ Sabaku no Gaara just _shivered_. I smiled widely and bent down to kiss him, just as Ino came in the room.

"UHG!! GROSS!!" She screamed, pushing me forward even more as she passed. I growled and sent her a glare. "So, you died." She said, sitting in a chair and looking at the TV.

"No kidding." Gaara grunted, giving me a small glare before going back to his game. I rolled my eyes and left the room.

– –

"Hello?"

"_Hello, may I talk to Mr. Sabaku no Gaara? I am calling regarding his daughter, Aurora._"

"This is her mother. What's going on?" I sat down on the bed, looking up at Gaara as he came in the room.

"_This is the school secretary at Konoha elementary. I need you to come get you daughter immediately. She has been disrupting the class all day, I'm afraid that she has also gotten into a fight with one of the other children._"

"She did what?" I asked, my mouth falling open.

"What's going on?" Gaara asked, standing at the end of the bed. "Sakura, who is it?"

"We'll be right there to pick her up. Bye." I hung up Gaara's cell phone and looked at him. "Has Aurora even got in any fights before? Or has she ever disrupted a class before?"

"Again?" Gaara sighed, running his hand through his hair. "She promised to stop."

I closed my eyes and stood. "Let's go get her."

– –

"Aurora." I said sternly, walking over to her. Gaara went in to talk with the principal. "What happened?" I gasped.

"I got in a fight." She whispered, putting the bag of ice back on her cheek, where a large bruise marked her skin.

"Why were you fighting?" I asked, smoothing down her fire red hair.

"... The said something about daddy." She whispered. "And you." She looked down at the floor and took the ice away from her face. "They said that their parents know you guys, and then they started telling lies about you to everyone. So I got mad and pushed him, then he hit me."

"Who-"

"Sakura?" I looked away from my daughter to see Tsunade-sama standing there, her eyes big. I gasped, frozen in shock.

"Y-you are still the principal?" I asked, once I regained my voice.

"Yes." She walked over to me and hugged me. "It's so good to see you again." She whispered. She pulled back and smiled at me. "I love your short hair."

"Thank you, Tsunade-sama." I could feel the tears starting to prickle at my eyes.

"A little to skinny for my liking, but you're still beautiful." She held me at arms length to look me over. I rolled my eyes and laughed a little.

"I'm still me, Tsunade-sama. And, I'm becoming one of the best." I flashed my doctors badge that I always carried around with me, just encase of a emergency and I was needed. "I'm graduating from collage early. The best in my class."

"That's wonderful!" she smiled, hugging me again. "But, I'm afraid that I have a few matters to discuss with you and Gaara. Come into my office?" I nodded, looking back at Aurora.

"Don't move from that spot." she nodded and looked away again.

"What has she done, Tsunade-sama?" Gaara asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"She has gotten in a fight with Uchiha Shoda. He was already sent home before you got here." She said, flipping through a few files on her desk.

"Uchiha? As in Uchiha Sasuke's son?" I asked, fear gripping my heart.

"Yes. I forgot you didn't know. Sasuke married a few years ago, eleven. He has a son and a daughter, their mother died a few years ago from a illness. His daughter is a few years younger then Aurora. Shoda is a mini Sasuke, cold, mean, and violent. I'm sure that Aurora had no idea, but that does not matter in this case. I am sorry. All I can do is suspend them both for a day, and that's it. Shoda will be very angry and will probably try to go after your daughter."

"That sounds like Sasuke alright." I whispered, looking down.

"She can take care of herself, I can assure you that." Gaara said, not even seeming fazed that Aurora could get hurt. "She'll be just fine."

"How can you say that?!" I asked, looking at him with big eyes. "She's your daughter!"

"I know her better then anyone, Sakura. I know what I'm talking about." It felt like someone had just stabbed me in the heart.

"Well, now who's fault is that?" I growled, my hands forming into tight fists. Gaara looked down at the ground, his face like a stone.

Tsunade cleared her throat. "I will be keeping a eye on her, non the less. You may take her home, and please, warn her of the Uchiha family." Tsunade dismissed us. I feel like I'm in high school all over again, leaving Tsunade's office like this.

Aurora stood and started heading out the doors, Gaara following her, putting his hand on her shoulder and whispering something in her ear. She nodded and glanced back at me, then the floor. I sighed and started following, my anger starting to leave. The ride back to Gaara's house was silent, I stared out the window, unable to look at either of them. Gaara because hes just a big asshole, and Aurora because she got into a fight, which seemed to happen regularly.

I went over to where Temari and Ino were talking in the living room when we got there, still not looking at them. I heard Aurora going up the stairs, and Gaara head to the kitchen. I don't know what's going on, but I have a feeling in the pit of my stomach...

Something bad is going to happen.

**....ooooooo... I sense some forshaddowing.... DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNN!!!!!!!... Hehe!! Well, REVIEW AND MAKE ME SMILE!! =D**


	19. AN

**Okay, well, I guess I have some bad news....**

**After reading threw this story (trying to edit it a little) I have decided that I do not like it anymore. I feel like it has just gone on and on and on. I don't know what I am going to do, as of yet, with it. I may just end up deleting it, or I may finish editing it and add the last chapter (which isn't done yet, sorry), but I am not sure. I was actually thinking about making it into two different stories, but, again, I am not sure what I am going to do. I may just delete it alltogether, remember. I am sorry for those who like this story and want me to keep going, but I feel as if I just need to do something about it before I can continue anymore.**

**This story was one that I started when I was just getting into this whole writing thing, and I know I can do so much better. I have also thought about just rewriting it, but I do not have the time right now. I feel as though this is no where near my best work, which it is not, and it kind of upsets me that I am letting this stay posted to the public. It upsets me because I know I can do better, but I just do not have the time to work on this peice of work, or a few of my others. **

**Again, I am sorry to all of those who want me to continue. I truly am sorry.**

**-AmyC103**


	20. Note that must not be skipped

Please do not skip this note, it is VERY important!!

**THIS NOTE WILL BE POSTED TO ALL OF MY STORIES:**

I am sorry to inform you all, but my lap top has come down with a very serious virus. My computer was completely destroyed. I have sent it in, but I do not know when I will get it back, or if it is to badly damaged to fix. This virus has stolen my passwords to many of the websites I am on, along with much of my personal information. It has even stolen many of the pictures I had on my computer. It has messed up my desktop, and even made a little "thing" appear on my screen before completely crashing it. I do not know what that "thing" was called, but it was like a little critter. I am telling you all this because I do not want this virus to infect any one else's computer. Please, make sure you have up-to-date protection software. I would hate to hear of this virus infecting more people. Make sure you run maintenance checks on your computer regularly. Never save passwords to the websites you enter, because this virus will hack that website and get onto your friends list and infect those people, too, if given the chance. I, luckily, never save my passwords, so none of you have to fear that.

Please, buy or download up-to-date protection software.

I will be borrowing my friends computers from time to time to work on my stories that are in progress until I either buy a new computer or get my old one back. I am very sorry that this has happened. I ask only that you keep your personal information safe and that you get up-to-date protection software.

Keep your computer and information safe.

Sincerely,

AmyC103


End file.
